Eight Shades of Different
by Elsie Liza Masen
Summary: Eight teenagers. Eight personalities. Eight problems. One outcome. The question is: what will said outcome be?
1. Introductions

Eight Shades Of Different:The story of 8 troubled teens, and how they help eachother.

**Elsie Masen POV**

I sat up on the window seat in my room. I was sad to be leaving Chicago, but I knew that our family needed this. We needed a change of setting. Edward's suicide attempt had taught me that. Despite my brothers many problems, he was very brilliant. I loved him, and I tried to help my twin. He was my best friend, and Edward had helped me through those terrible years when I was questioning my whole life. That was when I first became a model, around my thirteenth birthday. Those were hard times, but I got through them, and I would get Edward through his tough years.  
He had been this way ever since his girlfriend, Tanya, had been killed during a robbery. Edward and I were fifteen. Tanya was your typical beauty, strawberry blond hair, hazel eyes, perfect body, but she wasn't who I would pick for my brother. Tanya was much too picky, and she cheated on Edward. He never cared though because he was in love with her. Or, so he thought. I knew better though. Edward didn't love Tanya, he loved her looks.  
"Elsie, we're leaving now. You should grab your Louis Vuitton suitcase, and get in the car." That was Edward. I looked to see him standing in my doorway, his bronze hair tousled, and his light blue sweater on backwards. He had been running.

"Edward, you might want to look into a mirror. You need to get a little happier, we're moving to a quaint little town called Forks. You, of all people, should be happy about this move." I said, because he only ran when he was emotional.  
Edward gave me a you-really-need-to-stop-badgering-me look, and said, "All I said was get in the car, and you turn it into a therapy session. Get a life, Els." My face fell. I hated when he shut down like this. Edward was always hiding his emotions behind a thick veil of anger and biting humor. He reminded me of the undead. I sometimes had dreams about him as a vampire. "Elsie, you know I'm just not gonna be happy no matter where mom and dad move us to"  
"Edward, you just need a girl to move on with. You need someone to love you. I'm convinced that that's what you really want." I said sadly, I had told him this many times. Edward just gave me a withering look and walked out, towards the staircase.  
I sighed, and gave my white walled room a once-over. I walked out into the hall, grabbing my suitcase as left. Then I walked down the stairs, saying a silent goodbye to the house I had grown up in.

**Edward POV**

I'm an ass. That's all I am. An ass. I made my own sister cry. I made the one person who still believes I'm sane cry. I have no feelings. Elsie gives me a sad look as she turns away from the window on the airplane. She sees that I'm looking at her, and she looks away from me quickly. Ugh. I'm an ass.  
We're on our way to Forks, WA. I can't believe my parents are moving us to the rainiest place on Earth. Aren't I depressed enough? Maybe my parents are hoping I'll kill myself so that they can move on with their lives. With me out of the picture, they'll send Elsie to a boarding school in England. She'll kill herself because she'll blame herself for my untimely demise. Elsie never was very good at accepting failure. That's what we had always had in common, until SHE died. I can't bring myself to think Tanya's name anymore. It hurts too much.  
We're pulling into the airport now, and I am seeing Washington for the first time in my life. It's not raining, yet. It's about noon, and I'm wishing I was in Chicago, running. I would be running track with the track team right about now. The track season would officially start on the first day of school, which is in a week. Ugh. Forks High School sounds like hell on Earth. Ugh.  
I'm going to try to enjoy this, and who knows, maybe I will find a new girlfriend. HA! I'm beginning to think like Elsie. I'm not an optimistic person. I never was. Never will be.  
"Edward, can you help Elsie with her bags?" That's my mom, as she pushes back her bronze hair. I and Elsie look exactly like her. My father has blond hair, and he's a bit more aged than my mother. Having a failure for a son can do that to a person. He's a lawyer too, so that puts a lot of stress on him. Our mother is a stay at home mom, but she's usually pretty busy because she's usually balancing several affairs at once. Elsie and I may look like our mom, but we act like our dad. I grab Elsie's bags for her, and my own. I've found that lifting weights is almost as fun as playing the piano. Almost. Elsie smiles at me, appearently I'm forgiven. I smile back, and Elsie sighs. She's obviously getting sick of my mood swings. I really should have taken my meds this morning. Oh well.  
As we're walking out of the airport, towards a limo, I see her. Mahogany hair, chocolate eyes, and cream skin. Only one word can describe this beauty:captivating. This beauty smiles at me, and I smile at her, but I know that I don't even deserve to look upon this beauty. I watch as she steps toward a Forks police car, and gets in. YES! We might go to the same school. I really need to stop thinking about this girl like I actually have a chance with her. I don't have a chance with her at all. Who would want to go out with a freak like me?  
"Edward, staring isn't polite. The police chief is her dad, he could arrest you for harrassment." I look over at Elsie, who's caught my oggling. She giggles, and I blush.  
"How do you know?" I ask, curious. Elsie shakes her head, and says, "I know because the car says police chief on it, and the man inside is old enough to be her dad." She shakes her head again.  
I sigh and roll my eyes at her. Elsie can be such a know-it-all. I traipse over to our limo, genuinly excited for the coming school year.

**Bella POV**

"So, Bells, you excited about coming to Forks?" Charlie asks, and I'm surprised he cares. He doesn't care about anyone but himself.  
I put on a fake smile and say, "oh, yes. I'm so excited!" Charlie doesn't miss the slight edge of sarcasm, and that earns me a slap in the face. I hear Laurel, his fiance`, whimper. She got into this relationship not knowing what Charlie was capable of. The only reason I'm here is because my mother is dead, and because no one else in the family is willing to take me in. Charlie is all I have left. Ugh. My life is terrible. I look out the window sadly. Then I remember the beautiful, bronze haired boy from the airport. He had looked at me as though I was a piece of candy he couldn't have, but he had smiled. There had been lots of pain in that smile, but there had been admiration too. I realized he had been admiring me. That was new, but it was cute too. I hoped he was going to Forks High. I scolded myself for even hoping that, the boy had had Louis Vuitton bags in his hands, of course he wasn't going to Forks High. Stupid hick town.  
"Bella, are you willing to cook dinner?" Laurel stammers, playing with a strand of her mud-brown hair. Charlie looks back at her through the rearview mirror, a scowl on his face. He looks as though he's duisgusted by the sound of Laurel's voice.  
"Of course, I'd be glad to." I say, to appease Charlie. Cooking is probably the only way I'll get to eat. Ugh. We pull into the driveway, and I'm shaking. Hard. I hate showing weakness, but I must because I am a weakling. A pathetic weakling who couldn't protect her mother from herself.  
I push those thoughts away because I know that if I start thinking about my mom, the waterworks will start. I won't allow Charlie to see me cry. Ever. Mom always told me he loved it when she cried. He savored it. Charlie deserved to burn in hell.  
As I picked my black suitcase out of the trunk I looked up at the house I would live in. This would be my hell until I turned eighteen. With those thoughts, I marched toward my waking nightmare.

**Alice POV**

A girl with mahogony hair walking towards a house. A man with black curly hair throwing a chair at the girl. A woman crying out somewhere. A shriek of terror from the mahogony haired girl. The man walks toward the girl and he shoves her into the wall. She blacks out. He laughs and walks away, towards the kitchen. He wants a snack. That beating took it out of him.  
"Alice! Stop screaming! Your fine! It's me, your mother!" I awaken from my terrible vision to see my mother hunched over me, a worried look crossing her wrinkled face. Alice's sister, Cynthia, walked in and she ran back out. She had never been able to stand her sister's strange visions.  
"It's okay mom. Just a particularley terrible future." Alice didn't want to tell her mom about the terrible things she had seen. She knew that she was destined to meet this girl because she had been having visions about the people who would be her new friends at Forks High for weeks. There had been a vision about a sad bronze haired girl cotemplating something as a bronze haired boy, that had to be the girls twin, walked in and told her she should get into the car. Another vision had featured a big, burly boy at a park. He was staring at the ground, and he looked sad. Another vision was of a boy with bleach blond hair, and strinking deep blue eyes. He was sitting in an apartment with his parents, and they were discussing leaving New York City to move to Forks. Her next vision was of a beautiful blond-haired girl sitting on an airplane, crying. Another vision, Alice's favorite by far, was of a boy with curly blond hair and blue eyes sitting in a police station. He was smiling as his dad walked out of the sheriffs office, and gave him a you-are-in-so-much-trouble look. The boy had said, "now I suppose your sending me to Forks," and his father had nodded.  
Alice liked the vision of the boy in jail because he looked so innocent, and she had a hard time picturing him as a criminal. Alice liked most every vision, except for the one with the mahogony haired girl. That one was troubling.  
Cynthia walked in and looked at Alice sadly, and Alice cringed. She hated pity. "Alice, it's time to go." Then she left. Alice got up and grabbed her Coach suitcase. Shopping was Alice's best friend, and her parents let her shop as much as she wanted because it seemed to help her "condition". For every therapy session she went to, Alice was allowed to go shopping at the most highly priced place she could find, and spend at least three thousand dollars. Her family was very well off due to the fact that her father had struck oil a while back.  
"Alice, come on dear, we have a plane to catch!" Alice's mother yelled to her, and Alice walked down the stairs quicker, happy for a fresh start.

**Emmett POV**

Ugh, damn it. Why won't mom just let me stay for one more football season. Coach says I can get a scholarship within the next season. Damn it all. Ever since dad died, mom's been terrible, yelling all the time. Why do we have to move to some podunk town? I have to get a scholarship so I can get away from my stupid family.  
"Emmie, it's time to go. Mom says." I rolled my eyes at my sister, Miranda, and her stupid nicknames. I got up off the park bench and followed Miranda.  
"Coming," I said, sounding bored. I was bored. I had been bored since the day colon cancer claimed my dad. I had been shut down since then. I used to make jokes, I used to have straight A's. Not anymore. I used to spend Friday nights with my freinds. Now I spend them with my therapist, Patty. Therapy was the biggest joke I had ever seen. At least I didn't have to go anymore. Mom had run out of money to send me because of the big move to Nowhereville, USA. I was a little excited because moving meant I could start over, I could have a clean slate. I could get some new friends.  
As I looked at our small suburban house, I sighed. There were a lot of memories, good and bad, here. Like, I had had my first kiss standing outside the white washed door. I had broken the front window at least seven times during first grade baseball season. I had heard of my father's death while hiding behind the doorway of the kitchen when my mom was on the phone with the hospital. I hadn't been hidden very well because I had been 15 at the time and I was a fairly bulky person. Not fat, just muscled. "Emmett, grab your backpack, we have to go. It's a long drive." That was my mom, calling me from the driver's seat of a U-Haul. I sighed, and picked up my orange, Sacramento High School Blowfish backpack. I stepped up to the passengers side. Miranda was riding with our neighbor, Mrs. Sanchez. She had offered to help us move.  
"Are you excited, Em?" My mom asked. She always wanted people to be happy and excited, even when she wasn't.  
I sighed heavily, trying to make myself look happy, "I'm very excited, mom. Can't wait." She frowned as we turned onto the highway, and I knew what was coming. She was going to make me listen to her talk about how I need to get happy about this move, and that this is a good thing. I was surprised when she just pursed her lips. Usually mom was trying to get me to be happy, optimistic. I guess everyone got to a point when they just gave up. It made me sad to think that my mom was giving up on me. I supposed it would have happened eventually.

**Rosalie POV**

"Rosy, don't cry. It's okay. He was a cad. A miserable cad." That's what my mother's been telling me ever since my ex-boyfriend beat me up in an alley way. It was embarrasing enough to have to sit next to my mom on a plane to Forks, but now I was crying on said plane. Ugh.  
My mom looks at me, expecting me to say something. I refuse to speak. I haven't spoken in a year, and I don't plan on changing that anytime soon.  
We're moving because my parents think I need a change of scenery. They think that New York City was too violent for me. Whatever. The city had nothing to do with it. It was the people in the city. They all knew me as the girl who got beat up by the bank owners son. I refused to think his name. Cad.  
We pulled into the Sea-Tac Airport around six P.M. I was glad to be off the plane because I couldn't stand being in a closed space for too long. It scared me. A lot. My dad grabbed all our luggage, and we walked towards the limo my parents had ordered to drive us to our new home. As the limo pulled out of the airport, and onto the highway, a silence settled over my small family. I grabbed my phone, and began texting a friend of mine from Myspace. They were moving to Forks too. Her name was Elsie, and I had met her at a go-see for a Teen Vogue spread. She had gotten the spread, but I had gotten a very good friend.  
Rosalie: How r u?  
Elsie: I've been betta. U?  
Rosalie: Terrible. I h8 planes!  
Elsie: Me 2. They r duh worst.  
Rosalie: Yeah. I'm sittin in a limo on my way 2 duh new house. U?  
Elsie: I'm sittin in my new room. Can't wait 2 c u!  
Rosalie: I'm almost dyin from excitement! Is ur odd bro with u?  
Elsie: Yeah. And he's not weird, he's troubled. Could u plz b nice 2 him? For me?  
Rosalie: Fine. I G2G, we're duh house. Bye.  
Elsie: Buh-bye.  
We had just pulled into the driveway of a large bricked mansion. I was fairly impressed. This place was lovely. I could see the pathway to a garden and I was tempted to run to it, but I reined that in. I needed to go inside and look at my new room. I hadn't bothered with asking to decorate, so my mother had made it her mission to create a 15 year olds dream room. Suddenly, I didn't feel so good.  
I walked up a spiral staircase, and looked down a beautifully decorated hallway. There was a door labeled "ROSALIE" at the end of the hallway. I walked toward it slowly, and I knew I looked stupid. I turned the doorknob and looked inside. I was pleasantly surprised. In front of me was a fairly large room. The walls were painted in orange and pink stripes. There was a king sized bed on the back wall, and it had pink and orange sheets on it. I looked to my right and saw a big screen t.v. with a white desk placed next to it. There was a window seat with two bookshelves on either side that faced the garden. I walked over to it and sat, staring out at the beatiful dusk. I was home.

**Corin POV**

"Mom, if you could just please listen to me. I wasn't going to argue about the move. I was going to ask you if I could get my stuff put into the car because we are going to be late for our flight." Ugh. It was seven-thirty. The plane left for Forks at eight-thirty five. We weren't gonna make it. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.  
"Yes, please go put your things in the car, Corin. Your the only one who hasn't." My mom and dad both said at the same time. I swear, they think on the same wave-length.

About fifteen minutes later, we were all in the car, on the way to the airport. When we got to the airport, we all unloaded our luggage and checked in. "When do we get to fly?" Asked my little sister, Mica. She was six, and she thought that an airplane was a machine that gave you wings so that you could fly like a bird. I didn't argue with her, she'd never believe me if I told her what a plane really was. As we stepped on the plane Mica began asking the flight attendant when we got our wings. When the flight attendant handed Mica a pair of plastic wings, she stared at them, perplexed. When we took off, I diverted my thoughts from my little sister. I thought about Elsie Masen, a model I had met at a modeling class I had taken Mica to at my mother's orders. To say I was head over heels in love would be an understatement. I was captivated with her. The way she talked her brother out of killing himself over the phone was amazing. The girl should be a social worker. She had single-handedly saved someone's life. I replayed my conversation with her after she got off the phone with her brother in my mind.  
::::::::FLASHBACK:  
"Wow. That was amazing. Do you talk people out of killing themselves everyday?" I asked Elsie, running my fingers through my bleach blond hair.  
She laughed wryly and shook her head. "No, but I feel like I do. Edward, the one I just talked out of suicide, has been like this for awhile. I've been anticipating it. He's my twin brother, and I'll do anything to keep him alive." Elsie ran a small, pale hand, through her long bronze hair. Her green eyes seemed to be seeing something other than the gym filled with aspiring models.  
"Hey, if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." I said with a smile. She laughed, and looked at me as though debating on if I were some crazy stalker, or a genuine friend.  
"Thank you. Here, lets trade cellphone numbers," she suggested. SCORE! I actually managed to get a beautiful girls phone number!  
:::::::::END OF FLASHBACK:  
I and Elsie had been in contact ever since. We leaned on eachother at our worst times. When she considered death as an alternative, she called me, and for once I felt the same way she had the day we met. I called her the day I got benched at a football game. We balanced eachother well. I was sad that we were moving because now I wouldn't see Elsie when she came to NYC for photoshoots, and runway jobs. I felt really bad when she had said she was going to surprise me with a visit, and I had to turn her down. The odd thing was that she seemed happy to hear I was moving. As these thoughts were eating at me I looked down to see we were landing. YES! As we exited the plane, I breathed in the cold night air of Washington. It was so much cleaner than NYC air. My family and I grabbed our baggage, and Mica jabbered on about how that was NOTHING like what she was anticipating. I sighed. It was gonna be a long ride home. Ugh. We all climbed into a limo and looked out the windows at the forest flashing past us. I was exhausted, but excited to see the new house. All too soon, we were at the mansion that we would call home. Just as I was looking at the huge bricked house, someone ran out of the mansion next to ours, and they were yelling like a maniac. I looked at the person's tall, skinny form, and the flowing bronze hair reminded me of someone.  
"Elsie!!" I yelled, running toward her. She flung her arms open wide, and I ran straight to her. We collided and hugged eachother for a while, then I pulled back and did something that surprised us both. I kissed her! That was soemthing I had wanted to do since we first met. I pulled back, to see her reaction. At first her expression was awed, then a smile lit her face. YES!  
"You know, I've been wondering when you were gonna do that." Elsie whispered with a laugh, and I laughed with her, happier than I'd been in awhile. Forks was gonna be fun....

**Jasper POV**

I sat in the jailhouse, thinking. That was an awesome party, one part of me said. The other part said, shut up stupid, you're gonna have to move to Forks with your aunt Mildred. I'd really messed up this time. I doubted anyone could get me out of this mess. I couldn't talk my way out this one. There was evidence. Everyone knew I had been at the party.  
The reason that me being at a party is such a big deal is that I'm a 15 year old alcoholic. It's not like I'm a mean drunk, on the contrary, I'm a very funny drunk. Anyway, my parents are sick of it. My dad's meeting with the sheriff right now to discuss my bail. My mother is most likely at home, sobbing. I hated to think that I was causing that.  
My phone beeped as I was pondering this. It was text from my friend, Maria.  
Maria: R u still duh police station?  
Jasper: Yep. I'm busted. They r gonna send me 2 hicktown.  
Maria: Ugh. And we were having so much fun.  
Jasper: Listen Maria, I don't like u dat way. all. U kno dat, I kno dat. Go ruin some1 else's life.  
Maria: Fine. Hav fun in nowhereville.  
Jasper: I will. :-D I laughed to myself. Maria was the whole reason I was Georgia's biggest partier. She had taken a liking to me when we first met, at a town dance. I was 13, and she was 16. She and I had been going out on and off since I was 14. Maria was the reason I was facing a life in Forks.  
The party had started out fun, but someone had called the cops for some reason. I think her name was Melinda Sordino, or something. It doesn't matter. All I know is that one minute I was sitting on the couch with Maria, and the next she was yelling, "GRAB HIM OFFICER! HE'S BEEN DRUNK SINCE WE GOT HERE," and that was it for me.  
I knew one person who was moving to Forks. His name was Emmett, and I had met him at a football camp when we were seven. We've been best friends ever since. He and I usually talk to eachother when we have a huge problem. I decided to text him.  
Jasper: Man, I'm in deep shit. I'm duh police station. In other words, I'll c u in Forx.  
Emmett: Dat sux, man. I'm in the car, on my way 2 Forx. least we got eachother.  
Jasper: Yeah, sure. I G2G. My dads gettin out of the sheriffs office. Bye.  
Emmett: Good luck. Bye.  
"Jasper, get your ass up. We're going home, and your packing. You leave for Forks tomorrow." My father looked at me like I was a speck of dirt on his carpet of life. Ugh.  
I went home and began packing, unaware that getting exiled to Forks may be the best thing that ever happened to me.

**Narrator POV**

So, these youngsters have no idea that within a few days they will cross eachothers paths. They will become amazing friends, and some will begin relationships. But I'm getting ahead of myself. What these young teens have no knowledge of is the fact that there are darker things lurking in even the darkest places. They have no idea that by coming together they are starting a chain reaction. In these next few months they will begin to remember things they will wish they didn't remember.......

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

A/N: Thanks for reading!! If you want to read my original idea for this story, go to my profile. If you read the original idea you'll realize that a lot has changed from my original idea. I know that the narrator POV might be a little confusing, but you'll understand by the end of the story. I promise. Reviews are appreciated! Even if you just favorite my story, or put it on your alert list, that still motivates me!


	2. Meeting

_**Chapter 2: Meeting**_

**Elsie POV**

"EDWARD ANTHONY MASEN, ITS TIME TO GET UP!!" I yelled, up to my twin brother. I had been up since four A.M(it was now six), texting Corin. We were both gonna sit together on the bus. I was more than a little hyper.  
I looked around my navy blue room and realized that my outfit matched my room. I was wearing a blue v-neck, white cardigan, navy blue bermudas, and silver gladiator sandals. Perfection. My hair was done up in a loose bun with dark blue bobby pins.  
"You know, if I didn't know you, I would ask you if you were depressed after seeing this room," that was Edward, standing in my doorway dressed in black jeans, and a light blue button up shirt.  
"How do you get ready so fast?" I asked, incredulous.  
Edward chuckled at my expression and said, "I'm not a supermodel, remember? All I have to do is throw on the first clothes I see."  
I shook my head at him, smiling, but my smile disappeared as I remembered something, "you know, maybe if you put a little more thought into your wardrobe, mom and dad wouldn't be considering therapy," when I saw he was perplexed, I continued. "Edward, I saw a brochure for Happy Acres Therapy Center. You know I'll help you fight them on this. I KNOW you don't need therapy because it won't help. When you tried to commit suicide you were drugged up. You weren't yourself. At least that's what I keep telling myself." I hadn't meant to say that last part, it just slipped out. I saw Edward cringe.  
"Elsie, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you that day. It was wrong. It wasn't fair to you. I've hurt you time and time again. I'm so sorry." Edward walked up to me and hugged me. I sighed sadly and pulled away murmering about breakfast and buses to catch.  
I walked down the stairs toward the huge kitchen. It was decorated with red and black as the two dominating colors. I could hear Edward following me, his feet dragging. I shouldn't have said that. I walked out of the kitchen, suddenly I wasn't hungry. At all.

**Edward POV**

I'm still an ass. Now I've ruined my sisters mood. She was so energetic today, then she had talked to me and I had ruined it. I ruin everything. I'm an ass.  
"Edward, I can see you blaming yourself. Typical. You need to stop focusing on all the negative, and you need to stop being so dramatic. It's annoying." I nodded, knowing Elsie was right. She was always right.  
We both heard the bus coming, and we grabbed our stuff, running outside. Corin was doing the same, running at top speed out of his house. The driver noticed us and stopped. I could see in her eyes that she was annoyed by the "snotty rich kids." We stepped on the bus and made our way to the back of the bus, where the same girl from the airport was sitting. I sat next to her, smiling. She smiled back, blushing.  
"So, I believe I've seen you before. At the Sea-Tac airport?" I asked, wanting to make sure she was the same girl.  
She blushes, obviously not used to being asked questions. She was quiet. I added that to my mental list of things I knew about her. "Yes, I believe so. I'm Bella Swan. What's your name?" Her voice is lovely, like music. It reminds me of something I would play on a piano.  
"I'm Edward Masen. I just moved here with my twin sister, Elsie. We're from Chicago." I gestured over at Elsie, and saw that Corin had his arm around her. I realized that they made a good couple.  
"I figured you were twins. You look a lot alike." Bella whispered, and I realized that she spoke very quietly, as though she were afraid to speak at all. I also noticed that she had bruises all over her hands. I didn't ask her about them, I was afraid she would be offended.  
I realized Bella was staring at the scars on my arms, from where I used to cut myself. I had stopped because as soon as Elsie found out she cried for two days, and she didn't eat. I pulled the sleeve of my shirt down, and Bella looked away, blushing. "I used to have a lot more problems than I do now." I said cryptically. She didn't ask about my ugly past.  
"Bella, would you like to come over to my house sometime, and hangout?" I asked hopefully.

**Bella POV**

Why was Edward, the epitome of handsome, asking ME on a date? Was that even legal? It was very tempting to say yes. I decided that I would say yes, even though Charlie would probably kill me. Oh well. At least I'd die happy. "I'd love to come over," I said, and Edward's face lit up like a kid on Christmas. I felt the same, and I grinned.  
As I and Edward began discussing when I would come over, and giving eachother our phone numbers, a giant came on the bus. I heard Edward stop talking, and noticed that the whole bus had went quiet. The massive boy was big and muscled, with brown curly hair. He seemed to have noticed all of staring, and asked tersely, "what, you losers never seen a football player?" I heard Elsie and Corin both say "jerk" at the same time, and they both broke out in a chorus of giggles. "What are you laughing at skinny and tool?" The giant asked as he sat down in front of Elsie and Corin.  
"Excuse me?! What did you just call me?! You wanna start something, fattie?" Elsie asked, and I heard Edward chuckle under his breath. He didn't seem the least bit worried that his sister was currently arguing with a yeti.  
Just as the giant was yelling back at Elsie, the bus pulled into another rich neighborhood and a beautiful blond got on the bus, Edward muttered, "ugh, Rosalie."  
"What's wrong?" I asked, curious as to why this beautiful girl irked him.  
He rolled his eyes, and said, "she's one of Elsie's modeling friends, nad she thinks I'm weird. It's annoying."  
Rosalie looked at the giant arguing with her small friend and said, "excuse me, but I believe your in MY seat, and that's MY best friend your arguing with." She tossed her blond hair behind her back and gave the guy THE eye. He cringed.  
"Well, I'm very sorry ma'am, but I and your friend were having a spiritied debate about my weight. By the way, it's nice to meet you beautiful. I'm Emmett McCarty."  
"Well, Emmett, I'm Rosalie, and if you would kindly remove your eyes from my chest area, I would be glad to kick you out of my seat." Rosalie poked him in the chest, and Emmett got up, blushing at being caught.  
Emmett came to sit in front of us, and Emmett looked at me. Edward gave him a dirty look. "Look man, I don't need anymore enemies. I'm Emmett, and I'm new here."  
"I'm Edward. This is Bella. We were just discussing how you yelled at my sister. Nicely done. I've never seen her so red. Better that she's yelling at you, and not me, for once." I rolled my eyes at Edward's childish behavior. Men are so weird.  
"Hi, Emmett. I think a lot of people are new here. I am, and Edward and his sister are." I said, wanting to talk so I could get the nervous butterflies out of my stomach. I wasn't nervous about school, I was nervous about my date with Edward. We had decided to go hiking this Saturday. Charlie always fished on Saturdays, and Laurel had told me she wanted me to get out of the house on the weekends so he didn't hurt me, as badly. Laurel and I had bonded quickly, and I hoped she would be okay without me this weekend.  
I watched as we pulled up to another rich house. A little pixie of a girl got on. She had choppy, short, black hair. She couldn't have weighed more than 90 pounds. She sat next to Rosalie, and looked over at me suddenly. Her eyes got huge and her mouth formed an O shape. She looked terrified. And she looked as though she knew something she shouldn't. About me.  
**  
Alice POV**

It was the girl who had been beat up! I could see that she had already been beat, there were bruises on a part of her arm that wasn't completely concealed. Ugh. Why couldn't I have helped her?  
"Is there anything wrong with you?" Asked the prett blond haired girl I was sitting by.  
I sighed and said, "no. My names Alice. I'm new to Forks. What's your names?"  
The girl with long bronze hair who looked like the boy sitting next to the beaten girl spoke first, "I'm Elsie, and that boy over there, next to the girl with brown hair, is my brother, Edward. This is Corin , my boyfriend, and this is Rosalie, my best friend. We're all new here too." Elsie gave me a white-toothed smile as she introduced me to her friends. It was odd to finally know some of the names of the people who had ruled my visions for the last few weeks. I was disappointed that she didn't know the girl with the brown hair's name. Ugh.  
As I thought about all this, the boy from the jailhouse walked on. He sat next to a fairly large boy that was seated in front of Edward and the girl. I was sad that I still didn't know his name.  
Just as my mind was bombarded with all this, we pulled into Forks High. "Hey, Alice, do you want to sit with us at lunch today?" Elsie asked, and I was glad someone was nice.  
"Sure." I answered happily. As we stepped of the bus, I said a silent prayer that today would go okay.

**Emmett POV**

I can't believe I pissed off the hottest chick in this whole school. Then I freaked out the second cutest girl. That was a lost cause anyway. Edward already had her. But I was more mad that I had made Rosalie mad. I had seen both Rosalie, and Elsie in magazines, and I had always thought Rosalie was beautiful. I had always had a fantasy about meeting her and going on a date with her. Or a one night stand.  
"Hey, Emmett, you wanna sit with Bella, Jasper, and a I at lunch. Rosalie, Elsie, and Corin will probably be there too." Edward said, he had obviously noticed my fixation with Rosalie.  
"Yeah, sure, man. Thanks." We all walked together to the office, to get our schedules. I was amazed that we were all new to the school.  
"Isn't this crazy man? There's a lot of new kids here this year. I wonder if they got sent to live with their creepy aunts too." That was Jasper, complaoning about his situation. At least he lived in a mansion.  
"Yeah, it's insane. We should all hang out." There was a murmer of agreement from everyone. The little pixie chick looked ecstatic, as though she had seen this coming and she was glad it'd finally happened. Creepy.  
We had made it to the little office, and I wasn't sure we'd all fit inside. As we stepped inside, I heard someone inside gasp at the largeness of our group. "Please, all of you come into the office in an orderly fashion." Said an old lady with white hair sticking up at all angles.  
"Hey, Emmett, that's my aunt." Jasper whispered, annoyed. He had told me about how his aunt, who was retired, had taken a job at the school office so that she could keep an eye on him. As she was passing out the schedules, she gave Jasper a dirty look. When Mildred (that was her name) looked away, Jasper rolled his eyes. You could just feel the love.  
"You all seem to have been put into the same classes. I expect you ALL to behave (she eyes Jasper). Now go, first bell rings in 2 minutes." She waved us all away, and we scurried out, eager to leave the stuffy place. In my opinion, it smelled like old people, and cat puke in that place. Ew.  
A few minutes later, I found myself in a biology classroom. We had all been several minutes late to our first class as sophmores. Ugh. The teachers name was Mr. Marlina, and he talked more than Alice (she had told me her name after I started calling her pixie chick), who talked A LOT. "Okay, today we're going over curriculum, we'll start with...blah...blah....blah," that was where I zoned out. I sat next to some girl named Angela, who wasn't much for conversation, so I had nothing to do. Ugh.  
I felt the phone in my pocket vibrate. I wasn't sure who it was. I had gotten everyone's number while we wandered through the halls looking for this classroom. I flipped it open, and found that Rosalie was texting me.  
Rosalie: Wut r u doin? U look as bored as me. I've always h8ed biology.  
Emmett: I'm txtin u. & I probably am as bored as u. This guy talx more than the little pixie.  
Rosalie: Her name is Alice. But yeah, he talx a lot.  
Emmett: Ugh. Wen do we get out of here?  
Just as I texted her, the bell rang, and everyone flew out of the room. I found everyone out in the hall, trying to figure out where the math room was. I could tell today wasn't going to be a very good one when it came to school. Damn these huge school buildings. Ugh.

**Corin POV**

Ugh. I can't believe that we STILL aren't finding our way around very well. It's lunch time though, so I'm happy for now.  
"Corin, will you get me a salad while we all get a table?" Elsie asked, and I happily obliged. Her wish was my command. Elsie turned, her beautiful bronze hair flowing behind her. I looked up to see everyone looking at our niche of friends, and realized they were wondering where we would sit. I saw that all the kids in the cafeteria were surprised when we trumped all their regular cliques and sat as our little group. We had officially formed our own clique. I witnessed all this from the salad bar.  
After grabbing Elsie and my food I walked to our table, where everyone else was already sitting. "Thank you, Corin." Elsie said as I sat beside her. I looked to my left and saw that Emmett was sitting next to me. I still didn't really like him for calling me a tool. "Hey, Emmett, are you always such a dick?" I asked, getting annoyed at the thought of the incident on the bus.  
"No, actually, I can be fairly nice, when I want to be." He gave me a big smile, and I just looked away. What a dick. "Man, I'm sorry I called you a tool. I don't think about what I say. At all."  
"I can tell." I muttered, annoyed. Emmett looked over at me, and he looked a little annoyed at my unwillingness to forgive him. "Fine, I accept your apology." I rolled my eyes. Emmett reminded me of Mica. "You're worse than my little sister," I muttered, and he heard me.  
"Oh no. I have a little sis, and she's a lot worse than me. Little kids are terrible." He said, and that launched everyone into a conversation about our various siblings and relatives that annoyed us. Edward and Elsie got into it the most, talking about how they annoyed each other, and how their parents annoyed them. They had some funny stories. But talking about all this made me wonder if we would all confess our families reasons for bringing us here to Forks. I hoped not. I didn't want to talk about my families reasons for moving here.

**Rosalie POV**

Why did I find Emmett so cute? He had been feeling me up with his eyes this morning, but I found him oddly funny. In a childish sort of way. Whatever. Who cares.  
Most of our little group seemed to dislike Emmett. Maybe it was because he had called Corin, one of the sweetest guys ever, a tool. That was probably it. Elsie seemed intent on giving Emmett the eye every few seconds.  
We were all sittng in seventh hour, the last class for the day, when we all started texting eachother. We had been doing that all day. I pulled out my iPhone when it vibrated in my pocket. There was a text from Emmett.  
Emmett: Yo, hot stuff, watcha doin?  
Rosalie: Don't call me hot stuff. It's weird. Wut do u think I'm doin?  
Emmett: No need 2 get snippy. I think ur staring yours truly.  
Rosalie: In ur dreams. I'm trying 2 tune out this boring reading teacher.  
Emmett: Me 2. He sounds about as interesting as a calculator.  
Rosalie: Lol. Yeah.  
Emmett: So, u wanna go on a d8 sumtime? I'll pay.  
Rosalie: Sure. I got nothin betta 2 do. Where u wanna go?  
Emmett: How bout sumwhere in Seattle?  
Rosalie: Sure, why not. How bout this cool club called The Space Needle?  
Emmett: Don't we need 2 b 18 2 get in2 a club?  
Rosalie: Elsie has connections, she can get us in.  
Emmett: Wut kinda connections does duh walking toothpick have?  
Rosalie: U kno, I'm not sure I'm up for a d8.  
Emmett: Sry! Sry! How can Elsie get us in2 a club?  
Rosalie: She's a model, she gets wutever she wants.  
Emmett: Oh.  
Right about then the loudspeaker came on, "Mr. Flier, could you send Elsie, Corin, Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, Alice, and Bella to the office?"

**Jasper POV**

"I can't believe I being sent to the office on my first day!" I said, annoyed by the fact that I had been sent to the office for no reason.  
"Earth to stupid, we're all being sent to the office. Ugh, I can't believe they're calling us in right at the end of the day." Just as Elsie said that, the last bell rang. Ugh.  
We walked into the office, and the first thing I noticed was a circle of ten chairs. Sitting in two of the chairs was a bleach blond haired man with extremely pale skin, and next to him was a woman who was equally pale with long, carmel colored hair. They appeared to be in their mid 30's. The man spoke, "my name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and this is my wife, Esme. We've been called here to discuss some thigs with you. And, the police have just told us to ask Ms. Isabella Swan if she'd please head down to the police station now. Appearently your father's been arrested." At that, Bella began crying.  
"What do you mean? This is great! Why has he been arrested?" She appeared to be crying tears of joy. Odd.  
The woman next to Carlisle said, "he was arrested for assault. He was found beating up his fiance in your home, this morning. A man from the police station was the one who found and arrested Charlie when he didn't show up to work." I was beginning to wonder if Bella was crazy, because she was jumping up and down at this point.  
"I'm free! Yes, finally, he's gone!" Okay, now things were officially weird. Everyone was seemed to be wondering one thing: why was Bella so happy that her father had been hauled off to the station. I know that's what kept plaguing me. I would've been fairly sad if my dad got hauled off to jail, even though he had forced me to move here. I would've been crying if I were in her position. But yet, she wasn't. She looked happy as can be, and we all looked perplexed. Edward looked worried. I was a little worried about Bella myself. She needed to calm down.

**Bella POV**

**  
**I wondered idly how I would get to the police station when Laurel arrived. "Come on Bella. We have to go issue a statement to police about your father and his crimes." She had a smile on her face, and I was sure my face was a mirror of hers.  
"Bella, what does she mean 'crimes'?" Edward asked, looking genuinely curious. I REALLY didn't want to tell him, or anyone. They would all think me an idiot for not telling anyone.  
"I'd rather not say." I sadly, and everyone gave me a questioning look, but no one could press the issue because Laurel was towing me from the room, and Carlisle asked all of them to sit.  
As I climbed into Laurel's car, I was certain of two things. One, Charlie would soon be out of my life, and two, I was going to have to fabricate a lie to tell my friends.


	3. Bad Press

_**Chapter 3:Bad Press**_

**Elsie POV**

Why is Bella so happy that her dad is in jail? I gave Alice a questioning look because she had flashed Bella smile, and her expression was smug, as though she knew something we didn't. When she saw me looking at her, she wiped her face of all emotion and shrugged.  
Dr. Carlisle cleared his throat and said, "I believe Bella will be joining our sessions tomorrow because Laurel wants her too. Oh, Laurel is Charlie's ex-fiance." The doctor tacked on the last part when we gave him questioning looks.  
I was becoming VERY curious about why we were here. Our parents wouldn't make ME go to therapy, would they? "Dr. Cullen, why are we here?" I asked.  
"Well, Elsie, that's a good question. Your here because all your parents believe you all have an issue that group therapy will solve." After the doctor finished speaking, I was stunned. Why would I need therapy. Edward was the one with problems!  
"This is bullshit! I don't have a problem!" Jasper yelled, livid. I was surprised that he could get so mad. He had looked so mellow today.  
"Calm down, Jasper. I and Carlisle don't believe you have a problem either. If you want, you can all share your supposed problems." Esme said, and I wondered if anyone would share their problems.  
Rosalie stood, and I was surprised that she would share. I knew why she was here. "My problem is that I was beat up by my own boyfriend. I take antidepressants." She sat back down, and I heard murmers of pity. I dacided that I would share the fact that I had to talk Edward out of suicide if he told them his problem.  
Edward stood just as I thought this. "My girlfriend, Tanya, was killed in a robbery. I take antidepressants as well."  
I stood just as Edward sat back down. "I talked Edward out of suicide a year ago. I don't take any medication, but I probably should." Corin squeezed my hand, and Edward gave me a sad look. I felt guilty for sharing that last part.  
Emmett stood up and said, "my dad died of colon cancer, and my mom is depressed." He sat, and his expression was melancholy. Emmett nudged Jasper, obviously wanting him to stand. He did.  
"I'm addicted to alcohol." He stated, and it sounded as though he was discussing what he wanted for dinner.  
What happened next surprised me. Corin stood up. He had a problem?

**Corin POV**

"I watched my cousin die when I was thirteen. She was stabbed when we were walking through an alley, trying to get her cat that had run away. That's why we moved, because the city held too many bad memories." I looked over at everyone, and they all seemed surprised that I had a problem. I guess I seemed fairly normal to all of them. Odd.  
Elsie stared up at me, incredulous. I had never told her about my cousin, Didyme. She had been stabbed by her own brother, Aro. All the family had been surprised because Didyme had never done anything to make anyone hate her. In fact, everyone loved her. She had that kind of power over people. The most devastated out of everyone had been her boyfriend, Marcus. I heard that he tried to kill himself last spring, but Caius (his best friend) had managed to talk him out of it. I realized that I had been around a lot of near-suicides lately. Creepy.  
Esme looked at all of sadly, and I realized that she was pitying all of us. I hated pity. Then Emmett stood, and I could tell he wanted share something serious with the doctors "I can see what your doing. Your looking at all of us like we're crazy, and your thinking about what medication to prescribe for us. I'll say this once: I'm not here for pity, or meds. I'm here because my mom thinks I'm more depressed than she is. I'll leave if you try to force a pill down my throat, and I'll leave if you try to list the names of everything thats wrong with me." Emmett sat down and folded his arms across his chest. He looked very annoyed. "We're not here to do any of those things. I and Esme are here to get you all talking because your parents don't think you speak enough." Carlisle said.  
Jasper huffed, "what do you want us to talk about? Our feelings? I'll tell you what I'm feeling: pissed. That's what I'm feeling. My dad told me that there would be no therapy." Jasper muttered the last part, and I had a feeling he didn't really want anyone to hear him. I was just as pissed as he was.

**Jasper POV**

I can't believe I have to sit through this shit. It's bull. My dad had told me that I didn't have to go to therapy. Maybe aunt Mildred had convinced him to send me. Ugh. Stupid old bat.  
I looked around at all my friends, and they were all looked like they were thinking really hard. Carlisle stood and said, "we'll have our next session at the Forks Hospital. It'll take place next Monday." We all shot out of the room, and into the hallway that was filled with our parents, and my white-haired aunt. Ugh, she was the last person I wanted to talk to. Shit.  
"Come on Jasper, your coming to bingo with me." WHAT?! I was NOT going to go with an old bat to bingo at some random nursing home. There was no way in hell.  
I got in my aunts face and yelled, "NO WAY! YOU JUST PUT ME THROUGH A WHOLE DUMB THERAPY SESSION!! I AM NOT GOING TO WATCH A BUNCH OF OLD PEOPLE COMPETE FOR A QUILT!!!" She grabbed my ear, and dragged me out of the school, and I could hear my friends laughter from outside.  
"You will NOT talk to me Jasper William Whitlock! From now on, your spending every Monday night with me!" Mildred still had me by the ear when we got to the car. I was to stunned to speak. How was an old lady so strong!  
Mildred drove me straight into town, and we stopped in front of Wuthering Heights Nursing Home. Ugh, I could already smell the old people. We walked into the gaudily decorated lobby of the old folks home, and several nurses said hello to I and my aunt. I just glared.  
"You can sit in the waiting room until I'm done here," Mildred said as she scurried toward a room marked with the sign "GAMES". I walked toward the little waiting room, and was surprised to see Alice sitting in there alone. Wow, she looked pretty in that gray dress.  
"Hi. It's good to see someone here I can talk to," I greeted her, hoping she wouldn't laugh at me because of my outburst earlier.  
Alice smiled at me, "it's good to see you, Jasper. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets dragged here. My mom volunteers here, and she drags me along. Why are you here?"  
"My aunt's making me sit here as punishment for my outburst. She's playing bingo with all the other ancient people." Alice laughed at my joke, and smiled at me again.  
Her face suddenly became serious, "so....why are you here in Forks?" Alice blushed, as though she had asked me what color underwear I had on. I wished she had asked that. It would've been much easier to explain why I was wearing pink tidey whities.  
I ran my hand through my curly blond hair, then I launched into am hour long explanation about why I was in Forks. Alice listened intentely, and she never interrupted once. She seemed riveted by my terrible story.  
"So, that's why I'm here," I looked at her, then a question came to me. "Why are you here, Alice?" Her face flushed, and she looked as though she was going to be sick. Then my aunt ran out of the "GAMES" room, and proclaimed that she had won the quilt, and that we were going to dinner to celebrate. I sighed, and muttered a sad goodbye to a curiously happy Alice. At this point, I was pretty sure that dainty little Alice had a secret. Interesting....

**Edward POV**

Maybe I'm not an ass. Maybe. It our second day of school, Tuesday. Bella and I were sitting next to eachother in Geography class, and she was smiling every five seconds. I smiled back at her, although I wasn't sure why she was so happy. I had asked her on the bus, and she had changed the subject by asking me what that meeting was about because Laurel wanted her to go. I had answered Bella's questions, but I wondered what she was hiding. She and I weren't good enough friends yet for me to be asking her about her personal life, but I believed she had serious issues with her father that she wasn't addressing. No one should be this happy about there own father's incarceration. I would later find out why Bella was so happy. Even if I regretted it later.

A few hours later I found myself sitting on the piano bench in my family's lavishely decorated living room. The room was filled with peace as my fingers danced across the piano keys.  
Then the peace was shattered by my sister running into the room at top speed. She handed me the newspaper she was holding without a word. I looked at her curiously, then began reading.  
Charlie Swan Arrested After Assaulting his Fiance We've just been informed that Mr. Charle Swan, the police chief,  
was found beating his fiance in his Forks home. A friend of Mr. Swan tells us that, after Charlie didn't show up to work, he went to go see if Charlie was okay.  
"I went inside to see if Laurel (Swan's fiance) could tell me where Charlie was, and I found him standing over her with a butcher knife." That's the friends account of what happened when he walked in. Some friends of Mr. Swan are in denial of the attack because of Mr. Swan's involvement in the community. We will inform you if the police allow any more evidence to be released.  
I was incredulous!! Bella's father assaulted someone?! What if he assaulted Bella? "Elsie, what if Charlie beats Bella? I saw bruises on her arms." Suddenly everything was making sense. I wish that everything made NO sense.  
"I'm pretty sure he abused Bella. You could tell that she was fairly skiddish." Elsie seemed to be thinking about something very hard. "We should go visit Bella. I'll get the chauffer to drive us." Elsie walked off to go find Bella's address in the phonebook.  
I was nervous, angry, and increduluos all at once. What would Bella say about I and Elsie, and the rest of Forks, knowing her secret?  
I suppose I'm gonna find out.

**Bella POV**

I was terrified as I read the article about my dad in the paper. EVERYONE knew. Everyone. No, no, no. I and Laurel were both pretty mad that the Gazette had ran the story. We hadn't wanted this to go public.  
A red convertible pulled into my driveway, and I recognized Edward and Elsie in the back seat. I rushed downstairs to get the door, terrified. What if their coming to tell me what a freak I am?  
"Who are they? Friends from school?" Laurel asked me, smiling. She was glad that I was making friends. But I wasn't worried about that at the moment. I was more worried that these so-called friends now thought I was weird.  
There was a light tap at the door, and I rushed out before I could answer Laurel's question. My heart was about to burst. As soon as I opened the door, I was engulfed by a hug that smelled of cologne. "Are you okay?" Edward asked as he pulled away from me. I blushed slightly at his eagerness to hug me.  
"I'm fine." I said, surprised Edward cared. They were supposed to be telling me what a freak I was, weren't they?  
Elsie stepped forward and hugged me, whispering that she was glad I was okay. About this time, Laurel came out, and suggested I bring my guests in for some tea.  
"So, you know Bella from school?" Laurel asked, eyeing the convertible.  
"Yes. I'm Elsie, and this is my brother, Edward." My almost step mothers eyes went from Elsie to Edward, and she seemed shocked at Edwards beauty. She smiled at Elsie and Edward, then at me. Her eyes seemed to be saying, "wow, he's REALLY hot." I giggled aloud, and everyone eyed me as though I was crazy. I shrugged nonchalantely.  
After Laurel was done with the tea, and she had left us alone we all looked at each other awkwardly, not sure what to say. "So....are you sure your okay?" Edward asked, and he seemed very concerned.  
"Yes, I'm sure. Can we please not talk about this? I don't want to." I said, and Edward and Elsie nodded. For the rest of their visit we talked about all sorts of safe topics. Such as I and Edward's date, Elsie's trrip with Alice and Rosalie to Seattle, and we talked about Chicago. Appearently, Elsie and Edward really loved it there.  
"If you two liked Chicago so much, then why'd you leave?" They both glanced at each other, and finally Edward spoke.  
"My girlfriend, Tanya, was killed in Chicago. She was shot. My parents thought that moving would be good for me. And it has been good for me." Edward said, and I muttered sorry. He changed the subject, and we didn't talk about Chicago for the rest of their visit. Elsie said, "we better get going. Our parents are gonna pissed at us for staying out until ten." She walked toward the door, but Edward lingered. He walked toward me, uncertainty shadowing his every step. Edward pulled me into his arms, and somewhere in between the beginning and the end of the hug, it morphed into a kiss. I pulled back, wide-eyed. "Was that too much?" Edward asked, and I murmered no to him. He smiled crookedly, then said, "I'll see you tomorrow."  
I floated to my bedroom, and had dreams about beautiful bronze haired and green eyed boys who enjoyed using my father as a punching bag. I woke up giggling.

**Emmett POV**

It's about eleven-thirty, and I should probably be asleep. I was reflecting on the fact that Rosalie and I were going on a date this Saturday. If you counted Wednsday, I had exactly three days to get us into a nice restaraunt. Rose said she didn't really want to go to the Space Needle cause it got a little too crazy for her liking. I was totally stumped on what a hot chick like Rose wanted to do on a date.  
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I flipped it open, wondering who would call me at eleven-thirty. I looked at the number, and realized it was Rosalie! I flipped up the phone, and spoke, "what are you doing up at eleven-thirty? I thought hotties like you needed your beauty rest."  
I heard Rosalie snort as she said, "whatever, Emmett. I'm up because I really hate to sleep. I have some terrible dreams." I wondered what she meant by terrible dreams.  
"What do you mean terrible dreams?"  
I heard a sigh on the other end of the line, and for a split second I thought she wasn't going to tell me. "You know how I was attacked by my boyfriend? Of course you do, you were at the therapy session. Anyway, I have terrible nightmares about that night. Would you like to hear my story, Emmett? It doesn't have a happy ending, but I don't think that any of our stories does." I deliberated. Did I want to hear her sad story? Yes.  
"Sure, Rose. You can tell me if you want to."  
"Okay then. Well, it all started when my dad got a high ranking job at a bank in NYC. My parents became social climbers. They were willing to do whatever it took to become popular among the rich people. Even if it meant making me date the biggest cad in the city. His name was Royce King, and I thought he was terrible, but I wouldn't tell my parents that when they made me go out with him. Royce was the son of the man who owned the bank where my father worked, so how could I possibly say no? So, I and Royce went out ona lavish date, and he made me go to a college party with him. Every door was open for a King. He had had one to many beers at the party, and he became violent when we were walking home. Royce pulled me into an empty alley, and beat me up. A homeless man passed the alley and had the sense to call the cops. But by the time the police came, I had a broken rib, and I needed stitches in too many places to count. So, that's my unhappy story." By the end of her story my fists were clenched, and I was scowling. "How. Could. He. Do. That." I muttered, mostly to myself.  
"He was a monster. I need to go Emmett. Thanks for listening." Rosalie muttered, then she hung up. I could tell she was embarrased because she had dumped all that on me. I'd have to be extra nice to her tomorrow.

**Rosalie POV**

"I can't believe I told Emmett all that!" I ranted to Elsie. I had called her right after my disastrous conversation with Emmett.  
"Calm down, Rose. Breathe. Relax. You are fine." I loved having Elsie as a best friend. She was so good at calming people down.  
"I'm calm, I'm calm. I'm just nervous that he thinks I'm weird. I told him a lot, didn't I?" My voice rang with paranoia.  
Elsie sighed, exasperated. "Yeah, you did tell him a lot. But Emmett seems like the typ eof person who doesn't like secrets, so maybe it's better this way." I hated it when Elsie used logic. She could be so annoyingly inciteful sometimes. Ugh. "Rose, I gotta go. My bed is calling for mr. Do you realize that it's like one A.M.?" I and Elsie said a short goodbye, and I decided that my bed looked fairly comfy at the moment, and went over to it.  
That night, I dreamt this:  
I was standing in the middle of an alley, staring at two red eyes. The eyes seemed to be bodiless, and I let out a shriek when a pale white body formed around the eyes. The pale thing stalked forward, and it didn't speak even when I asked it what it was. Creepy.  
I woke up at three A.M., drenched in sweat. That seemed more like a memory than a dream.

**Alice POV**

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP! MY alarm went off at five A.M. Damn these small towns and their early school hours. I walked downstairs and started up a pot of coffee. I looked for something to read and spotted yesterdays newspaper. The headline on the front page was: Charlie Swan Arrested for Assaulting his Fiance Oh. My. God. Poor Bella! I bet she didn't want anyone to know about this! I wouldn't want anyone to know about it!! This is TERRIBLE.  
Then a vision flashed through my head. It was of Bella, SMILING? That made no sense, at first, but then I saw who she was with. Edward. They were standing in the hallway of the highschool, talking about how he had helped her a lot last night when he and Elsie had come over.  
I came out of the vision, and I was gald someone had comforted Bella. I needed to comfort her today so that she knew I was there for her. She needed friends at such a tough time in her life. "Alice, you really need to start getting ready for school. It's almost five-forty five." That was Cynthia, telling me to do something as usual. I rolled my eyes and headed for my room, so I could get ready for my third day of highschool in Forks. I really wanted to look pretty for Jasper.  
I tried to get a vision on how Jasper's day would go, but I couldn't. My visions were very subjective. They always came to me at random, I couldn't get them to come to me just by thinking about something really hard.  
I guess I'd just have to leave the whole Jasper situation to chance. Oh well.

A/N: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to the people who encourage me to keep writing, my friends Ashley, Athena, and Ellie. You guys rock! Anyway, I'd like to encourage everyone to write me a review, and if you write a review I'll dedicate the next chapter to you. That basically means that I'll type your username into an authors note. R&R! Thank you for reading!


	4. Good Can Become Bad

**_Chapter 4: Good Can Become Bad_**

**Elsie POV**

As I stepped onto the bus on Wednsday morning, I couldn't help but grin because Edward was smiling a very genuine smile. He hadn't genuinely smiled since Tanya died. I was so glad that he had kissed Bella. I felt a little guilty for peeking around the corner to see what was taking him so long. But I didn't feel too terribly guilty.  
"You look happy. What's got you in such a good mood? It's only Wednsday, we've got today and two other days to get through before the weekend" Corin asked, looking surprised that I was so happy. I knew how Corin thought: people could only be happy on Saturday and Sunday. He could be a little dense sometimes. Oh well.  
"I'm happy because Edward is happy, and you seem to be happy too. I'm happy as long as the people I love are happy." My last comment seemed to catch him off guard, we weren't the type of couple that told each other I love you all the time. I kissed him on the cheek then sat in the back of the bus. Our group had taken over the back of the bus, and we had become the "popular group." At least that's what I thought. Everyone gave us all envious glares when we passed them, so I was pretty positive that that meant we were popular. I could've really cared less as long as my new friends and I were happy.  
I turned my head to see Edward with his arm around Bella, who was blushing furiously. He bent his head and whispered something into her ear, and she blushed a shade of red I had never seen before. Edward noticed me watching and threw me a smile, and so did Bella. I smiled back and leaned my head onto Corin's shoulder. He responded by putting his arm around me. I sighed totally content.  
Then I noticed someone was missing and I realized Rose and Emmett weren't on the bus. I pulled out my phone and texted her, but she didn't text me back. That was odd, Rosalie always had her phone on her. Unless she was with a guy. Then it dawned on me: she was with Emmett! Yay! But I knew I was jumping to conclusions. She might just be sick.  
Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Corin and I all stepped off the bus and looked around the parking lot for Emmett and Rosalie. They were nowhere to be found. I knew that neither of them had a drivers liscence so obviously they weren't coming to school. Odd.  
"Hey, look everybody, it's that chick who's dad is in jail!" Yelled a particularly ugly looking boy. I recognized him as Mike Newton because he had a few classes with me.  
What happened next both surpised and scared me.  
Edward speed walked toward Mike, and his expression was furious. Bella called to him feebly, but he didn't listen. I had seen him like this once before when a guy had whistled at Tanya. Oh God. This wasn't good. That guy had gotten his face rearranged. Oh God.

**Edward POV**

Mike Newton is an ass.  
All I saw was a red haze, with Mike Newton at the center. I stepped toward him, fully intent on beating his ass. He was gonna pay for yelling at the "chick who's dad is in jail."  
When I got in front of him I pulled my fist back, and it landed right on his nose. I heard a sickening crunch, and saw that his nose was at an odd angle. Oh God, I was in trouble this time. I felt arms pulling me back, and vaguely heard Bella asking if I was okay. I was wondering when the teachers were gonna come drag me off to the principals office.  
"Edward, Edward, are you alright?" Bella asked for what I assumed was the millionth time. I nodded at her, and managed to smile so she'd know that nothing was wrong with me, physically. My mind was what had the real problems because I was so worried about if she was okay, emotionally.  
"Are you alright Bella?" I asked as Corin and Jasper let go of my forearms. She nodded timidly. "Do you think the principal saw?"  
"No, Newton's older brother was the only that saw, and he can't stop laughing. He won't tell anyone." Elsie said, and she sounded like she was repressing laughter.  
"You think he'll go to the hospital?" I asked, needing to know that I wasn't gonna get implicated in this.  
Corin shrugged, "probably. Don't worry, you won't get into trouble. The principal already hates Mike because he harrassed his daughter." Everyone laughed, and we all headed toward first hour. I slipped my arm around Bella and watched as her cheeks reddedned. I had learned that her cheeks got red with any amount of attention, and I loved that. She looked so pretty when she blushed, but I could tell it embarrased her.  
"Are you sure your alright?" I asked, worried that Newton had hurt her feelings.  
Bella sighed and said, "I'm fine, Edward." Even though Bella's tone was a bit annoyed by my constant worrying about her, I was still caught up in the way my name sounded on her tongue. It made me want to kiss her. I knew that this was hardly the place for that, and that it would most likely earn both of us a day in the counselors office so that we could talk about suppressing our urges. I remembered the time I and Tanya- I stopped that thought in it's tracks. Tanya was gone, I shouldn't even think of her. It would just make me depressed, and I really wanted to stay happy.  
A glance at Bella helped me recover from my daydreaming, and I scolded myself for thinking about Tanya with Bella around. The last thing I needed was for Bella to find out about my terrible past. But I knew she would find out about Tanya next Monday, when she came to therapy. Ugh. Sometimes, I wished Tanya and I had never even known each other, but then I knew I was glad for the times we had shared together. I really loathed the fact that that was true.  
As soon as Bella and I and the rest of our group entered first hour, the room went silent. I could hear whispers all around, and I knew Bella was blushing without looking at her. I shot glares at all the people that were staring, and I lead Bella to our seats in the bck of the room.  
As I looked at Bella, I knew it was going to be a long day.

**Rosalie POV**

As I followed Emmett through the Seattle Mall, I knew that this had been a bad idea. I had a feeling that a lot of Emmett's ideas were bad. I was happy that he didn't think I was weird for telling him my terrible story.  
"So, Rose, what do you want to do first?" He whispered the question, as though I would run if his voice was any louder.  
I shrugged, not really sure what I wanted to do. This whole skip school thing had been his idea, not mine. Not that I regretted following his lead or anything.  
"No, really, you pick. I have no idea what to do at the mall on a Wednsday besides steal an old lady's purse." I rolled my eyes at his raw sense of humor.  
"Why don't we go see a movie, or something?" Emmett said "sure" and we were off to the theater, him towing me along by my hand.  
When we got there, we argued about what to see. Emmett wanted to see The Haunting in Connecticut because he thought I'd need some help when I freaked out, and I wanted to see Seventeen Again because it looked hysterical.  
Finally, after a lot of pouting and a bathroom break, we decided to see The Haunting in Connecticut. I was secretely terrified, but I wasn't about to tell him that. "So, are you scared yet?" Emmett whispered as soon as the movie began. I rolled my eyes and didn't say anything because I knew that he would twist my words.  
Several hours later I found myself cringing into Emmett's chest. This movie was so scary!! He chuckled everytime I hid my face in his chest, but I didn't care. I was way to freaked out to care.  
I ran out as soon as the credits began rolling, and Emmett ran after me, laughing his ass off. "Emmett, your an ass! I can't believe you made me watch that!" He laughed even harder as I walked away from him, fully intent on going home.  
When he saw that I was headed for the mall exit, Emmett tried to backtrack, "Rosalie, I'm sorry! Don't go!" I whipped around to find him behind, sadness clearly shown upon his face. Ugh, why did he have to look so cute?  
"Fine Emmett, I won't go. No more movies, though, okay?" His face lit up as I walked toward him and grabbed his hand. We headed toward the food, discussing possible activities.

**Corin POV**

"Corin, do you want to go play some football?" Edward asked. We were all outside during lunch, and all the guys were trying to impress the coaches, who were eating outside. But the way Edward flirted with Bella, I could tell that he was playing to impress her. It was obvious Jasper liked Alice, so he was playing for her. I, of course, played to impress Elsie. I nodded to Edward, a huge grin on my face, and followed he and Jasper over to the field beside the highschool.  
It was a grueling game, but in the end Edward, Jasper, and my team had won! I knew we would as soon as the game began because Edward and Jasper were both really good on the field.  
We walked over to the girls, grinning madly. They all grinned back at us, and then there was a flurry of high fives, hugs, and maybe a few kisses, but I wouldn't have noticed because I was too busy kissing Elsie! Score! We all kind of floated through the rest of the day, and we decided to have Edward and Elsie's driver pick us up to bring us over to their house. I was pretty sroked because I got to spend the rest of the day with my best friends. It was kind of odd to call these people my best friends because we had just met a few days ago, but I felt like I had seen them, if only briefly, before.  
Everyone stepped into the foyer of the Mason's beautiful and intricate mansion. Elsie was beaming, she loved to show off her lovely home. "So, where do you guys want to go first?" Elsie asked, but she was cut off by a loud knock on the door.  
Emmett and Rosalie, hand in hand, walked through the door with grins on their faces. "Wow, you guys should've skipped school with us! It was soooooo fun!" Emmett said enthusiastically. I had thought that Rosalie would never skip school. She seemed like a goody-goody. I could definitely see Emmett skipping school.  
"Where were you guys all day? I texted you, Rose." Elsie said, and I could hear the slight edge of anger in her voice. Elsie hated when people didn't tell her things. I was finding her anger quite cute though.  
Rosalie rolled her eyes, "we were at the mall. Stop freaking out, Els. You don't control me." Rosalie was on my nerves. Elsie had just asked where they were all day. Everyone had been wondering where she and Emmett were.  
"Jeez, Rosalie, you don't have to freak out! We've ALL been wondering where you guys were. You don't have to tell us, if you don't want to." I said, a little bit curtly. I hated when people got mad at Elsie.  
Emmett, obviously sensing the tension said, "hey, guys, let's not let this turn into a fight. I and Rose were just at the mall all day, having some fun. You guys shoulda been there! I tried on a bra! Rose thinks I'm a double D." Emmett stated matter-of-factly. If I were him, I wouldn't say that kind of thing out loud.  
Emmett's attempt to get our mihds off fighting worked because everyone burst into laughter. I didn't laugh though. Because this brought back a memory. A memory that I didn't even know I had. I allowed myself to get lost in the unfamiliar memory.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Memory:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::  
I stood in the center of a club, my arm around Elsie's waist. We were all laughing about something Emmett had said to break the previous tension. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even remember what we had all been arguing about. I could tell that I had had one too many martini's because I was unable to remember things.  
Suddenly, gunshots rang out! I wipped my head around to the front of the club and my vision blurred. Now I knew I was drunk. But I wasn't drunk enough to forget the fact that I had to protect Elsie. I grabbed her and pulled her body behind my own. I was very conscious of the fact that a bullet had just come very close to my ear.  
The last thing I heard was a gunshot. Then everything went black as night.  
::::::End::::::

**Bella POV**

It was like watching a movie. I saw myself at a club, and I heard laughter. I was very conscious of an arm around my shoulders. The last thing I heard before blacking out was a gunshot.  
The whole time that I was having this odd memory, I was very concious of the fact that I was not seeing what was really happening to me. I knew that my friends were all around me, laughing about something. I couldn't remember what. I was also concious of the fact that what I was seeing in my head was a memory that I had subconciousky pushed aside. It was something I didn't want to remember.  
I drifted into unconciousness with those thoughts in my head.

"Bella, Bella, please be okay! Wake up for us, please!" I heard the voice of an angel in my ear. I could feel my hand encased in the angel's hand. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw Edward's face above my own. Laurel stood behind him, wringing her hands worriedly. They both let out a sigh of relief as soon as my eyes opened.  
Edward bent down to kiss my forehead, and Laurel ran around the bed to hug me. I was happy that Laurel was worried about me, that meant she might decide to adopt me. I was euphoric that Edward was glad I was okay! The reincarnation of Adonis was worried about me! That was the best feeling EVER!  
"Bella, I'm so glad your okay! I was so worried! When they told me, I was in court trying to find out how to adopt you! They won't let me, though. I think it's because there is still a chance, a very slim chance, that your dad might get out of jail." Laurel looked so sad. I knew that I needed to reassure her that she needn't get mixed up in my twisted life.  
"Laurel, you don't have to feel as though you need to adopt me. Just because you were engaged to my dad, doesn't mean you have to adopt me." I said, wanting to tell her that she HAD to adopt me. I really needed a parental figure.  
"Isabella Marie Swan! I WANT to adopt you! You need a parent, and I already feel as though I'm your mother!" I smiled up at Laurel and we hugged again. I heard Edward excuse himself from the, and he said something like "I'll be right back," but I couldn't be sure.  
Laurel glanced at Edward as he walked away, then said, "he really likes you Bella. You got here a few hours ago, and he hasn't left your side since. Its really quite adorable the way he looks at you. I think its great that you were able to fit in so quickly!" Laurel looked over at the door and said, "you know, he really is very good-looking." "I know, I'm surprised he likes me." I said. Laurel rolled her eyes at me, obviously wanting to say that I was beautiful, but knowing that I would object. She kissed my forehead and left, just as Edward was walking in. Laurel glanced at me sternly, obviously trying to be a responsible almost-parent.  
"Hey, how are you feeling? You took quite a spill." Edward said, and his eyes were worried. He grabbed my hand without seeming to think about it.  
"I'm fine, actually. A little tired. Do you know what happened to me?" Edward looked at me for a second, as if wondering if he should tell me or not. "No one knows. One minute you were up, the next you were down. Corin fell at the same time as you. What went through your head when you fell?"  
Suddenly, the memory that was so familiarly unfamiliar popped into my head. I gasped and Edward jumped forward, obviously trying to find a way to help me. "Edward, I had this strange scene pop into my head just before I fainted!" I proceeded to tell Edward about my odd memory. I realized that the protective arm around my waist had been Edward's!  
He looked at me incredulously. "You just told me exactly what Elsie called and told me Corin told her about." I couldn't believe it! Corin had had the same memory! Amazing!  
"Do you remember what triggered it?" Edward asked.  
"Yes! It was when we were all laughing! That was when the memory started!" I said excitedly, glad that I wasn't the only one who had seen the odd memory. It was creepy.  
"That's exactly what Corin said! You two did have the same memory. Do you remember seeing anyone you know in the memory?"  
I sifted through the memory, and realized that the gunman had been my father! Oh my God! "Edward, my dad was there! He was the gunman!" Suddenly, I was shaking and sobbing. The revelation had brought on an onslaught of unwanted feelings. For a second I thought Edward would think I was weird for crying in front of him. But instead he pulled me into his arms and stroked my head. He ran his fingers through my hair, and he whispered to me the whole time. I'm not sure how long we sat there, but I know that he kept whispering to me for a VERY long time. Then the worst thing happened. The local news was playing on the T.V. and suddenly a huge picture of my dad flashed across the screen. Edward saw the name above the picture, and got up wordlessly to turn up the television.  
"We've just been informed that an inmate has escaped the Forks City Jail. His name is Charles Swan, and he is armed with a prison guard's gun, and he is capable of using the gun. Make sure to keep your doors locked." With those words, the news anchor had made my life a living hell.

**Alice POV**

I ran down the hall. I had to tell Bella that her dad was out of jail. I could hear Jasper behind, and I knew he was yelling for me. He was more than a little creeped out by the fact that I had left him in the middle of the hospital cafeteria. I was nearly sobbing because I was afraid for Bella and Edward. I had had a vision of Charlie walking into the hospital in disguise and armed with a gun.  
I could see the back of Edward's bronze haired head through the window in Bella's door. I could see how he had his arm wrapped protectively around her. At least someone was able to comfort and protect her.  
I flung the door open, Jasper right on my heels, and yelled, "Bella, I saw Charlie walk into the hospital and he had a gun!" A thousand emotions passed across Bella, Edward, and Jasper's faces.  
"Alice, what do you mean you saw him walk into the hospital? We were in the cafeteria. There's no way you saw him. The cafeteria is far away from the main door." Jasper stated, and I decided to fess up. My friends needed to know.  
I sighed. I had never dreaded something so much. I knew that I would have to tell my other friends, who were visiting Corin in his room right now. I'd deal with that later. "You'll never believe me. But I'll tell you anyway. I can see the.......future. I knew I was going to befriend you guys before I even met you." Three pairs of eyes looked at me incredulously. They thought I was crazy.  
"Alice, that's......I don't know. That's.......wow. I'm.........at a loss for words.......I'm not sure what to say." Jasper said, and I could tell he believed me. Yes! At least I would always have one friend.  
"I believe you, Alice. You sound genuine." Bella stated, and Edward nodded, obviously willing to agree with everything Bella said.  
"Thank you guys. You ro-," I was cut off by the hospital intercom.  
"We'd like to inform everyone that an armed gunman has entered the building. Please stay in a hospital room, and stay calm. The situation is being handled." Oh my God. Charlie had arrived. Oh no!

**Jasper POV**

There was a gunman in the hospital? Alice WAS a psychic!! I looked over at Alice, and realized that she was standing motionless in the doorway. I had to get her inside so I could keep her safe!  
I pulled her into the hospital room, and closed the door in one swift motion. I realized her face was blank, and I wondered if she was having a vision. "Alice, can you see whats going to happen to us?" I asked.  
"Yes. I see us getting out of this, but I see Elsie.......not getting out." Edward was up out of his chair, and he was in Alice's face.  
"What do mean?!?!" He yelled, and I stepped between he and Alice. Edward looked as though he could kill Alice with one punch.  
She trembled and whispered, "I mean that she's gonna get hurt and she's gonna have to be in the hospital for awhile. Sorry, I worded that badly."  
Edward relaxed slightly, but his face became heavy as stone when we heard a gunshot. All I heard was a sickening scream, and shouts all around. This was NOT good at all.

**_*WARNING: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS A DESCRIPTION OF A VERY GORY SCENE. IF YOU ARE EVEN SLIGHTLY SQUEAMISH, DO NOT READ THIS*_**

**Emmett POV**

All I could see was red. The whole room was covered in Elsie's blood, and I could feel the red liquid on my shirt. I wasn't sure, but I think the masked gunman shot another bullet. I was in shock, so I was too freaked out to listen to anything else but my own startled heartbeats.  
I dared myself to look in Elsie's general direction. I knew the gunman was gone because I heard the door shut. I turned my head slowly, and looked at Elsie. She was covered in blood, and Corin was leaning over her. His hand was on her heart. Checking to see if she was alive. I tried to turn my face away, but I couldn't. Elsie's bronze hair was laced with red, and her pale skin was painted with blood.  
"SHE'S STILL GOT A PULSE! GET A NURSE!" The nurse who had been checking Corin's vitals when the gunman came in ran forward and began wiping Elsie off with a sheet.  
"Someone get me a first aid kit!" The nurse yelled. I suddenly saw that she was cleaning the bullet wounds. I was slightly nauseated. The nurse pointed at me and told me to carry Elsie to the hospital bed. I did, and as I did so I tried to disconnect myself from the situation. I REALLY didn't want to be here.  
The nurse removed a scalpel from the first aid kit, and began making incisions. She was obviously going to try to remove the bullet.  
Rosalie's sobs pulled me from my state of reverie. I walked over to her and wrapped my thick arms around her thin body. I tried to comfort her by whispering that everything would be fine. I knew that that wasn't the case, though. It seemed as though nothing would ever be okay. I felt so hopeless.  
"Do you kids think you're up to going to another hospital room? My ex-fiance's daughter, Bella, is in the hospital, and I want to be with her." The nurse said, and I eralized she was talking about our friend Bella.  
"We know Bella. We'll go with you." I said, taking charge. I wanted to get out of this bloody room.  
"You guys, Elsie can't travel. She's hurt." Rosalie said in a voice as lifeless as a robot's. Corin shook his head and pulled Elsie into his arms. He wanted to get out of here too. Rosalie sighed and allowed me to lead her out of that hell of a room.  
We walked through the ominous hallways, unsure of what would happen to us.


	5. Conflict and Aftermath

**_Chapter 5: Conflict and Aftermath_**

**Narrator POV**

So, our heroes and heroines aren't having a very easy time. I myself hope that they pull through, but I'm not really sure if they will at this point. But I'm going to keep reading because this story seems like one of those tales that has a peaceful, satisfying ending. So, dear Reader, keep reading this story. I bet it gets better. But thats just me.  
Charlie POV I'm going to kill Bella. That last girl was a mistake. Oh well. She SHOULD die just for looking a little like my pathetic daughter. Ugh. Why did I have to have such a disguisting daughter?  
I heard crying down the hallway, and I knew that it was that disguisting creature. I burst through the door and found the group of kids from the other room with my daughter and some other teens. My bitch of an ex-fiance was there too.  
I looked over at Bella and saw that a boy had his arms around her. Oh, how sickening. How did my ugly daughter get a boy to like her. "How did you get a boy to like you, ugly?" I asked tauntingly, and suddenly the boy popped out of his chair and pinned me to the door. "Oh great, we have a hero."

**Edward POV**

Bella's dad is an ass. That's all I could think as I pinned Charlie to the door. I could hear the police yelling for Charlie. I smirked at him and yelled, "HE'S IN ROOM 257!" Charlie screamed, defeated. He thrashed, but I didn't let him go. I managed to throw him up against the wall so the police could get in. Charlie was quickly thrown into a pair of cuffs, and doctors began rushing in.  
Then I remembered Elsie's current condition. I felt sick, but I was sure Bella felt worse. She was probably blaming herself for what happened. I looked over at her, and saw that she was looking at me with a worried look in her eyes. I got up and walked to Bella's bedside, and pulled her into my arms. As I did so, the room seemed to melt away, and I breathed in her flowery scent. My worries forgotten, if only for a moment, I stroked her hair, and kissed her forehead, concious of the fact that people were trickling out of Bella's room. I heard Laurel say that she was going to the cafeteria to see if anyone needed any first aid. I muttered a thank you to her because she had helped Elsie. Laurel muttered "take care of Bella," and left.  
"Thank you for doing that. Are you alright?" Bella asked worriedly. I pulled back and looked her in the eyes.  
"I'm fine. Don't worry. You need to rest. I'll stay with you all night." I stated, and Bella's expression become euphoric. I was so glad that she wanted me to stay!  
Then, a terrible thought popped into my head: What if Bella had been killed today, just like Tanya? Oh God. No. I had to stop thinking like this. I tightened my arms around Bella. "Edward, are you okay?" Bella asked, worry clear in her brown eyes.  
"No, not really. I was just remembering the death of my ex-girlfriend, Tanya. This whole thing made me think about how she died. Never mind, I shouldn't have brought it up. I'm an idiot. You don't want to hear about my problems." I said dismally. Why had I said that?! Ugh. This day just kept getting better.  
"Edward, I don't mind if you want to talk about your problems. You've helped me through my worst problems." I couldn't believe that she was actually inviting me to tell her my deepest terror.  
I sighed, and resolved to tell her my dismal story. "Tanya and I began dating at the beginning of our freshman year. I was.......in love and she was not. I know she cheated on me, time and time again. At the time I was so in love that I turned the other cheek. Anyway, one night she and I were at the grocery store, buying some Tylenol because she hadn't been feeling well. I remember that it was about ten at night, and we had snuck out to get her medicine because her parents didn't keep any in the house. They were into herbal cures. So, we walked into the grocery store, and there was a robbery going on. The two men turned away from the cashier they were badgering and shot a single bullet. It hit Tanya and she fell into my arms. All I remember after that is the SWAT team running in, and lots of gunshots being fired." I stopped at that, unwilling to tell her about my spiraling depression.  
"What happened after that?" Bella asked, her eyes filled with curiosity. I now knew that I had to tell her.  
I sighed heavily and pulled her body closer to mine, for support. "The next few weeks were hell. I skipped school for a week. Elsie finally dragged me out of bed and made me come to school. She stayed by me the whole day, transferring into all my classes. Elsie has been instrumental in my recovery. Anyway, even with all the help, I still turned to pills. And knives. And a few vodka shots from my dad's "special occasion" cabinet. I sunk into a pool of misery, and I finally surfaced over this last summer. Running has helped, I've found that running is the best drug for me. Coming to Forks has helped. Making friends has helped. You've definitely helped my recovery." As I said those last words Bella blushed.  
"I'm glad to be helping you, Edward. You're helping me, too. I don't think you realize that." I was helping HER? Amazing. I bent my head forward and kissed her beautiful lips. As my lips moved against hers, I was overcome by a sense that I was where I was supposed to be. By Bella's side.

**Corin POV**

Elsie was hurt. That scrolled through my head like it was on a big LED screen. I felt as though I was torn into a million pieces. They wouldn't let me see her because the hospital still had me marked as a patient. They said I could leave in the morning.  
The night was a slow, torturous hell. I called Edward a few times and asked him if he had heard anything about Elsie, and he said that she was doing better. I believed him because Edward wasn't one to gloss over the truth. All my friends alternated between my room and Bella's room throughout the night. Most of them were in my room because Bella and Edward were too lovey-dovey at the moment. The police questioned all of us at around two in the morning. They said that they figured we would be awake, what with all the terrible things that had happened.  
We all told them exactly what had happened, and they said that we should expect to be left alone about this issue. I was relieved, being questioned by police seemed fairly intimidating.  
"Corin, don't look so glum. We'll all see Elsie in a matter of hours." Emmett said, and I could tell that he was trying hard to be optimistic. I smiled at him sadly. At least he was trying to make me happy. I looked up at the clock and realized that it was seven in the morning. I could be discharged! I pressed the call button on the remote, and a nurse came bustling in. It was Bella's almost stepmother, who had helped Elsie. "Thank you so much! You kept her from death!" I said to Laurel. "It's no problem. I'm glad to have helped her!" She said, and handed me a pile of my clothes that my parents had brought in. All our parents had come to the hospital at different times of night to try to get us to come home. None of us would. We had all agreed to stay together.  
I slipped into my clothes and ran from the room, straight to Elsie's room. The white halls passed by me, and I focused on Elsie's room, which I could see ahead of me.  
I grasped the door handle and turned it, to eager to knock. What I saw inside that hospital room is a scene that I will never forget. Ever.

**Elsie POV**

As I heard the door to my hospital room fly open, I somehow knew that it was Corin. I watched as he drank in my appearence. I saw how his eyes lingered on the many tubes that were shoved into me, the bandages that covered my shoulder, where I had been shot.  
"Oh my God. Elsie, he hurt you this bad?" Corin's voice shook with anger. For a second I was afraid that he might lose it.  
"Corin, I'll be fine! Don't freak out, please! I'm fine!" As I said that I sat up a little, causeing a bit of strain on my shoulder. I winced as I felt a sharp, shooting pain.  
Corin composed himself and jumped forward to stand on the side of my bed. He reached out his hand and cradled my face, the only thing that looked remotely holdable. I turned my head and kissed the palm of his hand. Corin smiled down at me. "Do you think that I could kiss you, or would that hurt?" Oh my God, I can't believe how protective he can be!  
"You can't hurt me with a kiss." I stated. He leaned down and kissed my lips, but it was too much of a peck so I took the liberty of deepening it. When he finally pulled away he pulled his hand away from my face and grabbed my left hand, the only hand I could bear to keep above the blanket. My other hand had one too many needles for me to be able to look at it without heaving.  
Just then, Edward and Bella stepped into my room. Edward's face was smooth and emotionless. I had seen that face at Tanya's funeral. "What's the diagnosis?" Edward asked, and I could see that he was most anxious to know if I would live.  
"I'll be fine. Dr. Cullen says that I should be back to normal soon, and that the scarring should be minimal." Edward's face seemed to relax as I said the words that he was hoping to hear. I was very glad that I was going to be okay.....and that I could still model. Carlisle had said that the scars wouldn't be anything that make-up couldn't cover up.  
I realized that Bella seemed to be okay, but I wanted to be for sure. "Bella, what's the diagnosis? What's yours, Corin?"  
Bella sighed, "I'm fine. They said that an all-night stay might not have been necessary." Corin nodded, varifying that his condition was the exact same. I beamed, glad that they were both okay.  
Just then Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper walked in timidly. "You doing okay, Els?" Rosalie asked, running her hand through her blond hair nervously.  
"I'm doing good. This is off topic, but why aren't you guys at school?" I asked, needing a subject change VERY badly.  
Everyone rolled their eyes at my obvious subject change, and Emmett answered happily, "School's been called off for the rest of this week, and all of next week. The administration says that many people have relatives at the hospital, and they need time to cope." I nodded and smiled, glad that I wouldn't have to make up any school work.  
Just then, Dr. Cullen walked in. He looked at all my guests and said, "wow, I had no idea that this many people fit in here." He chuckled, and everyone else chuckled at his thin attempt at humor. "Anyway, I wanted to tell Elsie that she will be able to leave in two days. She'll be able to leave around noon on Saturday." I sighed in relief because I HATED hospitals. The less time I was in here, the better.  
"Thank you, Dr. Cullen. I'm glad!" I said, and everyone laughed at how relieved I sounded. I laughed along with them, feeling oddly light as I laughed wholeheartedly. I was so glad that I had something to look forward to!  
I leaned back into my pillows, wincing slightly as my shoulder protested against my sudden movement. I could've cared less though, because at the moment Corin had my face in his hands, and his thumbs were rubbing my face soothingly. I moved into an unpleasant dreamland, where people ran screaming inside a New York City hospital from a man in a black mask.

**Alice POV**

I sat in the hospital cafeteria beside Jasper. We had been talking down here since Elsie fell asleep. All our friends, save for Elsie and Corin, were in the cafeteria with us. At the moment, Jasper and I were talking about my visions. I had had one this morning that consisted of Charlie breaking out of jail again. Jasper had said that that was unlikely because Charlie was under high security. I disagreed. If this man could disappear from prison once, he could do it again. "All I'm saying is, if he did it once, he can most likely do it again." Jasper shook his head, but didn't argue. Neither did I, I was sick of arguing.  
Our whole table had gone silent, and no one seemed to be bothered by that. Not even Emmett. Then I saw a vision of Emmett going up to the salad bar and getting some bad lettuce. I saw him in the bathroom for at least an hour. "Emmett, don't even think about going to the salad bar." No one looked surprised that I had just said that because I had already explained my visions to them. Everyone had said that they were taking my "gift" well because of all the terrible things that happened lately. They said that nothing surprised them at this point. I was pleasentely surprised by their attitude.  
I stared across the cafeteria, and suddenly a vision came.

Charlie was running as fast as he could from the jail. His boots left huge prints on the ground, and when he noticed that he slowed his pace in an effort to keep from leaving anymore tracks.  
He finally stopped in a very large meadow. At the edge of the meadow stood Bella and Edward. Charlie ran forward, an inhuman screech breaking free from his lungs. Charlie raised a gun and began shooting. Every bullet hit Bella.  
After killing Bella, Charlie laughed, then shot himself. Edward dropped to his knees beside Bella, and tears ran across his face, dropping onto Bella's empty face. "Bella! Bella! Get up! Please get up!! Don't die! This can't happen again, it just can't!" The pain in Edward's words was palpable. It hurt to listen to.  
Suddenly fierce determination lit Edward's dead features. "I'll be with you soon, Bella." He murmered, kissing her forhead softly. Edward stood and walked over to Charlie, grabbing the gun from him. He walked back over to Bella and laid down next to her. Then he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger.

When I came to, I was crying. I looked around the table, and began babbling to Edward and Bella. "Don't go to a meadow, Charlie WILL escape from jail and he WILL kill you!" Jasper clamped his hand over my mouth and put his arm around me. He rocked me back and forth, telling me that it was alright. "Alice, what do you mean?" Bella stammered. She looked like she was going to go into shock. Edward had his arms around her, and he was strocking her hair. He kept glancing at me, and I could tell his gaze was suspicious, as though he was wondering when I would begin jabbering about terrible things again.  
I peeled Jasper's hand off of my mouth, "I'm not trying to scare you guys, I'm trying to tell you that I had a vision. A terrible vision." Then I explained my vision. All eyes were on me, and all the eyes were scared. I watched Edward's expression as I told the part where Charlie shot Bella. His eyes were so pained that I had to look away. Edward's arms tightened around Bella, and he pulled her onto his lap. People were beginning to stare at our table.  
I looked at everyone else's expressions, and they all looked scared. Bella looked terrified as I told the part where Edward killed himself. A small tear rolled down her cheek, and Edward wiped it away. After I stopped talking, we all stared at eachother for at least five minutes. Just when I thought the silence would last forever, Jasper spoke.

**Jasper POV**

"Just because we aren't talking about all this doesn't mean that it won't happen. I know that this is all pretty insane, but we have to be ready for whatever Charlie wants to throw at us." I looked around at all my friends and realized that what I had said contradicted something that I had said to Alice earlier. I had said that there was no way Charlie could escape.  
"I know that I've been skeptical about the fact that Charlie might get out, but I'm changing my opinion. I don't think he can escape right now, but if he's well-behaved he could probably find a way out within a few months. Alice, could you tell what time of the year your visions took place?" I asked, needing to know all the details.  
She nodded, then said, "it looked like spring." Ok, so this could actually happen. A million things were spinning through my head, but I didn't want to focus on any of them. I didn't want to believe that Charlie could escape, but just because I didn't want to believe it didn't mean it wouldn't happen.  
"We need to ready ourselves for Spring," everyone looked at me as though I was crazy, "I know that this isn't gonna happen for a while, but it will happen. Just because we don't want it to happen doesn't mean that it won't." Everyone at the table nodded, but I could tell that they didn't understand the gravity of the situation. God, I felt like such a nerd thinking that. Oh well, desperate times called for desperate measures.  
"Jazz is right guys. We need to be ready for everything." Alice said, her voice filled with conviction. I smiled at her, and put my arm around her. At least Alice was here for me.  
Emmett sighed heavily, "do we have to talk about this? We've been morbid all day, I think we need a break. How would you guys like to see a movie?" I shook my head, exasperated. Emmett could be so odd sometimes. But he was my friend, so I understand why he was the way he was. His life had been tough, so he knew exactly how to get everyones mind on something positive.  
"How about we go see a comedy?" Rosalie chimed in. Edward looked at Emmett and Rosalie as though they were crazy. "Elsie just got shot, and you two want to go see a comedy? Your insufferable." I don't know what he just said, but I think he dissed them.  
"Edward, we're just trying to get everyone happy! We need to be in good spirits so that every time we go to see Elsie, we're happy! She needs some optimism." Rosalie said, her tone persuasive.  
"Ok, ok, but I won't be going with you. I'm staying here with Elsie." Edward got up, and Bella followed. "Hey, do you guys really want to go to a movie, or would you rather go over to one of our houses?" Emmett asked, and I could tell he was itching to get out of the hospital.  
"How about we got to my house, I've got a bowling alley." Rosalie said, sounding a little like she was bragging. Everyone nodded at Rosalie, and she pulled out her iPhone to call her driver.  
I was more than a little curious as to how this day would go because we were all in such testy moods.

**Rosalie POV**

As my driver pulled into the hospital parking lot, I was thinking about how glad I was to be bringing everyone over to my house! I loved to show off my wealth. At the same time I felt bad for being so vain at a time like this. After all, Elsie was in the hospital and we were all going out to enjoy ourselves. "Hey, how about we bring a gift to Elsie? It'd have to be something from my closet, but she always tells me she wants my clothes."  
Alice came to life as I said that, "ooooh, closet shopping! I bet she'd love that! We should grab some stuff she can use in the hospital, like a Louis Vuitton blanket, or a pair of Juicy Couture slippers! I'm so excited!" I was amazed that Alice could get so hyper over a small gift! But I was quite glad that someone shared Elsie and my passion for fashion.  
"We'll get Elsie's gift while all the boys bowl, hows that sound?" I asked, needing to have an idea of what everyone wanted to do. Everyone nodded and we all slid into the limousine, ready for a few hours of fun.  
We all made little comments about the weather during the ride, but no one broached the tougher subjects. I was glad for that because I didn't think I could bear to think about my best friend sitting in a hospital. I even felt sorry for Edward, which was odd. I guess it was because I felt sorry for Bella. I mean, the girl had just had her death predicted. I could tell that it was hurting Edward to see her hurting. Their relationship was very hard to understand, they had only known eachother for a few days, and yet they seemed to love eachother. It was odd, but cute The limo pulled into my driveway, and I heard a few gasps. I was so happy that my house was THAT stunning to them! "No flash photography, please." I said haughtily, and everyone burst into laughter. I laughed with them, glad to hear some actual laughter. The hospital was filled with sadness and crying, so I was glad to hear people laughing.  
My driver, Felix, opened the limo door for us, and we all exited, running into the house as fast as we could. My butler, Dimitri, held open the door for us, and we said quick thank-you's to him. He nodded curtly.  
We stepped into the huge foyer, and I gestured to the door on my left. "That's the door to the bowling alley." I said, and all the guys went, except for Emmett. "I'm gonna stay with you two." He said happily, putting his elbow out for me to hold. What a gentleman! I hooked my arm with his and we made our way up the stairs. Alice seemed a little out of place, but she tried to keep her cool. She seemed to be jealous of I and Emmett. I made a mental note to clue Jasper in on the fact that Alice liked him.  
We walked into my room and Emmett flopped onto my bed with a sigh. "Comfortable?" I asked with a smirk. He nodded, a goofy grin on his face.  
Alice bolted toward my closet and threw the double doors open, revealing my huge closet. She ran in and began thumbing through the clothes as though they were a book that she was reading. I chuckled as I watched her pick things out to give to Elsie. She grabbed a Louis Vuitton blanket, Juicy Couture Slippers, and a Diane Von Furstenburg cardigan.  
"What do you think of these?" Alice asked, all business. I smiled and nodded, and she squealed.  
"Alice, why don't you go join everyone else in the bowling alley?" Emmett said, and Alice happily obliged, leaving the room with the grace of a dancer.  
Emmett walked over to me and slid his arms around my torso. He hugged me for a while, then pulled back. Emmett's face moved toward mine, and before I could register what he was doing, he was kissing me. I kissed him right back, letting my own pleasure seep into the kiss. Emmett smiled before pulling away, "your a REALLY good kisser!"  
I pulled away from him, annoyed. "We just had our first kiss, and thats all you can think to say? Oh my God, you're REALLY dense Emmett!" I yelled before stomping out of my room. He slipped his arm around me cockily, and I hissed in anger. What a jerk!

**Emmett POV**

I can't believe she's this pissed about me saying that she was a good kisser! It was, after all, a very legitimite compliment. As we walked down the stairs to the bowling alley, I could practically feel the steam coming from Rosalie's ears. I burst out laughing, and that earned me a slap. I was still laughing as we walked into the bowling alley. Everyone stared at Rose and I walked in, but they didn't ask us why we were acting so weird. We both sat down in the chairs that were placed in the front of the lane and watched everyone bowl for a while. They alley was pretty loud because everyone was laughing at how terrible they were doing. I laughed too, but Rosalie just sat there, still fuming.  
"Listen, Babe, I'm sorry. Please don't hold my boyish instincts against me. Kissing beautiful women makes me stupid." I said, grinning. Rosalie looked up at me, her eyes calculating, as though she wasn't sure that I was telling the truth. Then, she broke into a grin, "I suppose that I believe you. Apology accepted." She pecked me on the lips, then walked off to bowl. I followed, mesmerized by the way her hips moved as she walked. I could've kept staring, but I realized that that might earn me another slap if she caught me staring.  
We bowled for two hours, at least. Alice finally had to remind us that we all had a friend in the hospital, and that said friend was probably wondering where in the hell we were.  
$Everyone piled into the limo and we were off to the one place that we wanted to be at, but at the same time we didn't want to be at. "Here we are." Rose muttered, grabbing the bag of gifts for Elsie. It was pouring down rain as we got out of the limo. Great, it fit the mood perfectly.  
All of us got out and broke into a run. The girls were especially funny because they ran like, well, girls! I almost began laughing, but I knew that Rosalie would probably get mad if she found out why I was laughing, so I held my tongue.  
As we ran into the hospital an old nurse gave us the evil eye and asked us where we thought we were going. Rosalie told her Elsie's room number and she motioned towards the elevators. We all made our way towards the elevators, and for some reason we all stayed close to eachother. I guess we stayed close to eachother because being close provided a certain amout of comfort. I new that I needed a bit of comfort at that moment.  
When we reached Elsie's room, I saw that Edward, Bella, and Corin were the only people in the room. That struck me as odd because I would think that Elsie's parents would be in here with here. Weird.  
We all sat and talked with Elsie for a long time, and after awhile she looked at all of us very seriously. "Why don't you guys all go and do something fun? I can call the manager of the Space Needle club and tell him that some minors are coming in tonight. Its no problem." We all looked at eachother, dumbfounded that Elsie would care about us at a time like this.  
Rosalie finally spoke. "Elsie, I'm not really sure if anyone is in a party mood." Elsie rolled her eyes at all of us.  
"Shut up, Rose. I'm calling him, and whoever wants to go can." Elsie picked up her iPhone and dialed a number. She spoke quickly and brusquely, saying her name and what she was requesting. Elsie smiled and thanked the manager, who she had referred to as Laurent. I bet he's gay. "You guys are going to the Space Needle. Laurent is handling all your I.D.'s, and he suggests dressing a little more sophisticated so that you seem older. He says to go in the back way, Rosalie can tell you where that is. Please go. For me." Elsie batted her eyelashes, and we all said that we'd go. We trudged out of the room, toward our night of "fun".

**Bella POV**

As we all left Elsie's hospital room, Edward looked at the miserable look on my face. I was miserable because I hated parties. They were so....boring. "Bella, do you want to go to the club, or would like to come over to my house?"  
My breath caught at his question. Should I go? I had always heard that this was exactly they type of thing that boys asked girls when they wanted to do some "things" with them. But, for some reason, I didn't think that Edward was like those types of guys. So, I nodded, and he seemed to hear my thoughts because he said, "Bella, I don't want to do anything that we would regret later." I smiled, knowing that his statement was genuine.  
"Just let me call my driver so he can pick us up." Edward pulled out out his LG Xenon and dialed a number. I didn't listen to his words because my mind was so muddled. I felt as though my hospital stay had been for weeks, when it had really only been for about a day.  
I felt a protective arm wrap itself around me. My eyes swiveled to meet Edward's green eyes. His eyes were worried. "Hey, Edward, Bella, aren't you two coming?" That was Emmett, holding the elevator for us. Edward pulled me down the hallway, nodding at Emmett.  
"I have to admit, I'm a little excited about the club." Alice said. I wasn't really listening to her words because I was so tired. My mind was like the ocean. It brought things to me, but took them back just as quickly. Just like ocean waves.  
We all got out of the elevator and stepped into the hospital lobby. I and Edward sat on a bench by the door, and I laid my head on his shoulder. He laid his head on mine, and I sighed contentedly. Edward's driver pulled up and Rosalie said that we could've taken her limo. Edward explained that we weren't going. No one argued, none of us was up for a fight. We said our good-byes then got into the car. Edward kept his arm around me as the driver made his way toward Edward's mansion.  
The car ride felt like it was two seconds long. Edward opened the door before the driver could, muttering a thank you to him. Edward surprised me by picking me up and running me into his house. WOW! He was really fast and strong! I reached out and opened the door for him, and he walked inside. Edward still held me in his arms, breathing heavily. "Do you want to see my piano?" I nodded.  
He set me down, but kept one arm around me. We walked upstairs slowly, quietly. The house was eerily quiet. Edward and I came upon the top of the stairs and he led me down a long hallway. He pulled open a door, revealing a room that had a big, black piano, and an easil, for painting. "Who's easil is that?" I asked, curious.  
"Oh, thats Elsie's. She loves painting," he motioned to the walls, which were painted a clean white, and they were plastered with amazing paintings, "those are all hers." I rushed over to the nearest painting. It was of Edward, and it was amazing. In the painting, he stood on a pier, looking out at the ocean. "This is magnificent." I said simply, and Edward nodded his agreement.  
"Her best is one that she did right after she met Corin. I would show it to you, but its in her bedroom." I couldn't believe how gentlemanly he was! "Thats fine. I'm more interested in hearing you play the piano." I said, smiling up at him. He smiled back, all the while pulling me toward his piano. We both sat on the bench, and Edward began rifling through a stack of music.  
"This might sound odd, but I wrote a piece about you. Do you want to hear it?" Edward asked, his voice hesitant.  
"Of course I want to hear it! That's not odd, its the sweetest thing I've ever heard." Edward smiled brightly, and pecked me on the lips. His fingers then began a swift dance across the piano. The music was so beautiful, it remined me o everything beautiful in the world.  
When he stopped playing I looked up at him. He looked worried, as though he thought I didn't like his playing. He looked at me expectantly, silently asking me if I liked the piece. I answered his unspoken question with a kiss. This kiss was so sweet. After everything we had been through lately, this felt so good. I felt his arms wrap around my thin frame, and I felt him pull me onto his lap. We continued kissing until we finally had to break apart for air. I smiled up at him, and he smiled at me. Edward kissed my forehead and murmered, "I'm glad you enjoyed the piece." He leaned his forehead up against mine, and we stared into eachothers eyes contentedly.  
I finally felt as though I was where I belonged.


	6. Desperate Darkness

**_Chapter 6: Desperate Darkness_**

**Elsie POV**

"Corin, you need to go to that club. Seriously. I know that you don't want to leave me, and as sweet as I think that is, its not healthy for you to be here. You need a break from this dismal place." I said, casting a glance around my hospital room. I had been trying to get Corin to go to the club ever since all our friends had left. He had been refusing to go for several hours, and I was sick of it.  
"I'm. Not. Leaving." He said stubbornly, and I just gave up. It wasn't worth arguing about. Corin seemed to sense that I had given up because he grinned happily. As he grinned about winning an argument with me, I grabbed the Diane Von Furstenburg cardigan that Rosalie and Alice had brought for me. I ran my hands across the rich wool and slipped on the cardigan, relishing in the rich feeling of the silky fabric. It was really cold in the hospital room, so I had been glad to get the cardigan, slippers, and blanket from my friends.  
I and Corin sat and talked for several hours, the only times we were interrupted was when my parents called me and told me that they were sorry about not being able to be at the hospital, and when a doctor or nurse would come in to check and see if I was in pain. I was glad to get some alone time with Corin because I had wanted to talk to him about the vision he had had just before he fainted.  
"So, who do you think was the gunman in your vision?" I asked, beyond curious.  
Corin sighed and thought for a while. "I'm not really sure. He was masked, so I have no idea what his face looks like, but he was built a little like Charlie...." I gasped, not wanting to consider that I had had a past encounter with Charlie.  
"If none of us remember this, then how do we know that it actually happened?" I asked the question that had been on the tip of my tongue for hours.  
"Elsie, as much as I want to believe this never happened, I can't ingnore it because I AND Bella saw the same thing. You just can't ignore how unlikely it would be for the both of us to see the same thing, at the same time. I wish this had no ring of truth, but, sadly, it does have a VERY loud ring of truth." Corin ended his little speech with yet another sigh, and I could see how much this bothered him.  
I began to mull over everything he had said. I now know that I have to believe him, as much as I'd rather not. I wondered if all this was connected, like a chain of events. A domino effect, maybe. Maybe everything that was happening now was kind of an aftermath of what happened to us before. Maybe we've all met before, one way or another.  
"Corin! I just thought of something! What if whats happening now is a domino effect of what happened to all of us at that place that you and Bella saw? What if whats happening now has something to do with our first meeting?" I spoke rapidly, wanting to get all my thoughts out as soon as I had them so that I didn't leave out anything.  
He looked at me for an immeasurable moment, "if you're right, then something seriously wrong is going on."

**Jasper POV**

"Wow, the walking stick DOES have connections." I heard Emmett say as we walked toward the back entrance of the Space Needle club. Right after Emmett spoke, everyone could hear the sharp slap that Rosalie gave him. I snickered, Emmett had needed a slap for a REALLY long time!  
"Jasper, do you think that you'll get drunk?" Alice asked me nervously, pulling at a strand of her spiky black hair nervously.  
I chuckled, then said, "I don't know, you're the one who can see the future." She laughed, but as soon as she stopped her bright expression was replaced by a grimace.  
Ugh, why did I tell everyone my stupid secret? I REALLY wanted to drink tonight, to get drunk just so that I could escape my nightmarish life for a little while. But I know that if I drunk I'll do something stupid, or worse, Alice will think I'm an idiot.  
My muddled thoughts were halted when an African-American man, who I presumed to be Laurent, opened the door and said in the girliest voice I had ever heard, "yay, you all showed up! I was wondering when you'd get you're asses here, I've been waiting FOREVER! Now get inside, this rain is a bitch for my dreadlocks." He motioned for us all to step inside, and began handing out fake I.D.'s. How had he gotten those together before we got here, it hadn't taken us that long to get to the club, had it?  
Emmett cleared his throat as he was handed an I.D., and asked, "Laurent, how did you get these together before we got here?"  
"Well, honey, this weird guy came to me just as I was opening up the club, and handed me all these I.D.'s. When I asked him why he was giving these to me, he said that they were for a group of teens who would need them. He said that I'd know who to give them to because I would get a special phone call from someone. I guess he knew that Elsie was going to call me. He was an odd man, one minute he was here, and the next he was gone." Laurent looked a little scared, as though he were afraid of the man.  
Rosalie looked at Laurent confusedly, "he couldn't possibly have known that we were coming. Elsie's clubbing idea was VERY spur-of-the-moment, she hadn't been planning it all day. She couldn't have been planning it all day, she's in the hospital, and she's been with someone all day. We would've found out if she was planning something."  
Laurent shrugged his shoulders and walked down the hallway, towards a door. He was gone before we could even ask him what the man looked like. At this point, my thoughts were more muddled than ever! How could someone have known that we were coming before we did? This was crazy!  
I heard Rosalie gasp, and turned to her, wondering what was wrong. When she spoke, her voice shook, "what if Charlie broke out of jail? What if he's the guy?"  
"Impossible. Charlie is probably under maximum security right now. He's dangerous, but I doubt he can see te future." Alice said, her voice full of conviction.  
For a while we all just sat there, digesting the fact that we might have another crazy person stalking us. This was just too much, I needed a drink, ASAP!  
Emmett looked at all of us, his eyes filled with terror. "Hey, guys, do you think we should tell Elsie, Edward, Corin, and Bella about this?" He asked, his voice afraid.  
Rosalie shook her head, "we shouldn't put this on them. Besides, I'm sure they're safe, the stalker is in Seattle, right?"  
I sighed, not really sure what to say. How could we be sure that the stalker was here? We couldn't be sure. No one bothered to point that out though, so I just followed everyone into the club.  
As I heard the music on the other side of the door that we were standing in front of, I let myself believe that we were all safe.

**Narrator POV**

Ahhhhhh, how very wrong our heroes are. No one is safe when they are playing the game of victim. No one. They don't have a chance, in my opinion. Oh well, I suppose I shall just sit and watch the show.

**Alice POV**

As we entered the club, I let the music wash over me. As I gave myself over to the sounds in the club, I had a distinct feeling that this had happened before. Suddenly I was assaulted by a barrage of images. I and Jasper walking through a city at night. All of my friends seated in a booth at a club. All of us dancing. Drinking. Eating. Partying. I saw a man with a black trenchcoat on, handing us I.D.'s. I shook my head, forcing the images out of it. This was NOT like a vision at all. My visions were NEVER that sharp. This had already happened.  
I tapped on Jasper's shoulder, then recounted what I had just seen, adding in that it wasn't a vision. he just nodded, and then proceeded to tell everyone else.  
"I think that we should just file that away for later. Let's have fun now." Jasper said, all the while looking at the bar. Ugh, why did he have to be an alcoholic?  
Suddenly my phone vibrated in my Coach purse. Ugh. I looked at the caller I.D.. Ugh, it was my mom. "Rosalie, do you know where the restroom is, I've got parental units to deal with." Rosalie nodded and lead me to the restroom. The guys followed, muttering that they needed to call their parents and fabricate a lie.  
We all split up at the doors of the bathrooms, and I answered my phone just as the door shut. "Hey mom, whats up?"  
"Alice, are you going to come home tonight, or do you want to stay with your friend? You can stay with her if you want, I don't mind." My mom said, and I almost broke down and told her where I was. I felt so bad lying to her, but it was necessary.  
"I'm gonna stay at the hospital, mom. Thanks for understanding." I said, my voice sounding slightly odd.  
My mom didn't answer for a little bit, and I thought that i had been caught, but then she said, "sorry, Alice, your sister was asking me something. Anyway, go ahead and stay. I love you, honey."  
I sighed heavily, hating myself. "I love you too, mom." I heard the line go dead and put my phone back into my purse with a grimace.  
"Whats with you? Have you never lied to your parents before?" Rosalie asked, disbelief clear in her voice.  
"No, never. I'm a bit of a goody-goody." I said, sighing. Rosalie laughed lightly, and I just turned to the door, muttering about getting this stupid party over with.

**Rosalie POV**

I sighed heavily as I walked behind Alice. She was being so negative about this whole thing. I for one was going to enjoy tonight. As soon as we were out of the ladies bathroom I felt Emmett's thick arm slink around my waist. I perked up instantly, just having him around made me giddy, and excited.  
"So, what do you guys want to do? Drink or dance? Jazz, your vote doesn't count cause we all know what you want to do." Everyone laughed, except Alice, who looked nervous. Now I understand why shes so wound tight. Shes afraid Jazz is gonna do something stupid. Suddenly I felt slightly queasy. What if he got arrested? Then we'd ALL get in trouble. Ugh, shit, I guess no one thought this through.  
"I think that we should dance." Alice said it as thought she were commanding us.  
We all made our way to the dance floor quickly because we were all eager to start our night of partying. I and Emmett were the first to make it to the dance floor, as soon as we were there Emmett put each of his arms around me, began spinning me around. I giggled like a giddy teenager, unable to contain my excitement at getting out of Forks for a while. I began to focus on everything around me, I wanted to soak it all in. Just as I made note of the song, I realized that I had heard it before. It was Blame It by Jamie Foxx, and I had heard it at a club before. I just couldn't put my finger on which club.  
Then something weird happened.  
I saw myself in Emmett's arms at a club, and we were dancing to this song. All our friends were there, so I knew that I wasn't seeing what was in front of me, since all our friends weren't with us.  
As soon as the odd vision came, it went away. I, of course, told Emmett immediatly. He wasn't surprised because he had seen the same thing. We both shook off the odd event, in an effort to have fun.  
Our fun was very abruptly ruined though, because suddenly the lights went out.

**Bella POV**

I and Edward had been sitting at his piano for hours when the power went out. I felt both his arms wind around me protectively, and I sunk into his arms eagerly, power outages had always scared me.  
His velvet voice broke the quiet. "Don't worry it'll be on in a second. It's probably just this storm that did it." Just as Edward spoke, thunder boomed outside. I cringed, and I felt one of his hands move to caress my cheek. I shivered at his touch, his fingertips sent an electric current across my skin. Edward must've felt my shiver of pleasure, becuase his fingertips kept caressing my cheek, slowly and soothingly. I felt his lips kiss the spot beneath my ear, and I shivered slightly harder than I had before. I was aching to kiss him at this point, so I twisted around slightly.  
As soon as our lips collided, I felt complete. He was such a good kisser, I sank into his arms, slightly dizzy. When Edward pulled away, we both panted, our lungs VERY oxygen deprived.  
As soon as our breathing became more normal, Edward pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged him back, happy that I wasn't alone.  
Suddenly, a rumble of thunder broke the silence, and then a scream. Edward jumped up and yelled, "MOM, ARE YOU OKAY?" Oh. My. God. What other terrible things could possibly happen?  
"Bella, I've gotta go see if my moms okay. Do you want to come with me?" I could hear the hope in Edwards voice, he very obviously didn't want to leave me alone. I didn't really want to stay up here alone, so I stood up and grasped Edward's hand with my own shaking hand.  
Edward led me out of the piano room quickly, taking me towards the hallway. I could tell he wasn't bringing me downstairs when he led me left instead of right. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness several minutes ago, so I could see where he was leading me. We were headed towards two big, oak double doors that very obviously led to the master bedroom. Edward flung the doors open when we walked in, and what I saw was definitely not what I was expecting.  
A woman with long bronze hair, who was obviously Edward's mother, was sitting on the bed next to a man who I presumed to be Edwards dad. "Oh, thank you Harold, you know how I love diamonds!" Edward's mom squealed again, and Edward pulled me from the room, a disguisted look on his face.  
"What is it, Edward? Whats wrong?" I asked, worried that he was mad at me for some odd reason.  
Edward shook his head back and forth, then spoke, "I'm just so sick of my mom bringing her sloppy sides home, thats all." Oh. Now I understand. Edwards mother must cheat on his father ALOT!  
"Edward, I'm really sorry." I said, and Edward kissed the top of my head as he led me toward the stairs.  
"It's not your fault, Bella." He said sadly, then he asked, "do you want to head back to the hospital?" I could tell that he wasn't feeling all that happy at the moment, so I just muttered "yes" and we walked outside to find Edward's chauffuer awaiting us.  
We both ran toward the car, eager to get out of the rain. As soon as we entered the car, the chauffuer asked, "where are you two headed?" Edward muttered "the hospital" and the driver took off.  
I lowered my voice, so as not to be heard, and asked, "isn't he going a little, I don't know, fast?" As I asked this, Edward shot a glance at the driver, and he slowed down minutely.  
"He's always had a bit of a lead foot." Edward whispered with a chuckle. I laughed with him, wanting to keep him in this joking mood. If I could keep Edward in this joking emotional climate all the time, I would.  
Just then we pulled into the hospital parking lot, and Edward and I shot out of the car, not wanting to get too soaked. I felt something pull over my head, and I saw that Edward had pulled his jacket over me. I smiled up at him; this was one of the sweetest things anyone had ever done for me.  
As soon as we walked into the hospital I saw Laurel standing at the front desk, smiling. It was very obvious that she had been watching us because of the smile on her face. I could see in her eyes that she was glad for me. It was as though I was her daughter, and she was glad that I had found a sweet, caring guy. I smiled back at her, so happy that I was making my adopted mother happy.  
"Bella, Edward, I'm glad that your finally here. I tried to call you Bella, but it kept giving me the busy signal. Maybe its this weather, the hospital is running on generators, and I've tried calling our house to see if the powers on. Its not. I think that we'll stay here tonight, the hospital administrator told me that we could." Laurel said, speaking quickly. I could tell that she had been worried about me.  
I sighed, aggrevated at myself for worrying Laurel. "I'm sorry, Laurel. My phone must not be working. I think I'll stay with Edward and Elsie tonight, that is, if you're staying." I said, tacking the end on when I realized that Edward might not be staying here tonight.  
"I'll be staying, since my parents don't seem to care that Elsie is in the hospital, and she needs someone here with her." Edward said sadly, and I squeezed his hand.  
Laurel said, "ok, thats fine. I've got to go now, I have patients to attend to. You two stay out of trouble." At the last part, Laurel's voice became stern. I almost laughed, the tone didn't fit her soft voice. After she stopped speaking, Laurel sped off, toward a sign marked "SURGERY."  
"Shall we head up to Elsie's room?" Edward asked, his green eyes tired. I nodded slowly, almost wanting to say no, we should find a room and just talk. Thats what I had been wanting to do for a while because I loved to talk to Edward. He was so nice, funny, and romantic.  
Before I could stop it, these words flew out of my mouth: "Edward, do you want to find an empty room, and just.........talk?" As I asked this, Edward's face became excited. "Of course! Lets just go up to Elsie's room and ask her to cover for us if Laurel comes looking for us." Edward said eagerly. We headed up to Elsie's room and asked her if she could cover for us. After she got done yelling at us for not going to the club, she happily obliged, telling Edward that if she sent him an exclamation mark, that that meant that we needed to get our asses back to the room.  
After that we left the room in search of an unused storage closet. Edward and I walked aimlessly for a while, but we finally managed to find an abandoned looking closet. As soon as we entered it, Edward sat on an old stepladder, and pulled me onto his lap.  
I smiled at him as I sat down, happy to finally get more alone time with him. I felt like I didn't get enough time with him when we were at his house.  
I rested my head on Edward's shoulder, still smiling. "What are you so happy about?" Edward asked curiously, tracing circles on my arm.  
"Oh, I don't know, I'm just happy to be here with you." I said giddily. A quick glance at Edward's face showed me that he was glad that I felt that way.  
Just as my face tilted upward, Edward's hand caught my chin, and his face moved toward mine. I closed my eyes, eager for his lips to be on mine. As soon as our lips collided, I shivered in pleasure. We kissed for what felt like forever, and yet when Edwared pulled back and smiled, I still wanted more of his kisses. But I restrained myself, reassuring myself that we would have plenty of time for more kissing.  
After our breathing became normal, we began talking about every subject we could think of. The whole time I was very aware that I was in my favorite place of all time: Edwards arms.

**Emmett POV**

The power had been out for about thirty minutes. To say that I was a little freaked out would be an understatement. The first unusual thing that had happened since the power outage was this: Someone had shouted "NO ONE MOVE," then everyone had went quiet with fear. The next thing that happened was that whoever shouted the first time yelled again. This time he said, "I WANT THESE POEPLE TO MAKE THEIR WAY TO THE FRONT OF THE ROOM WHEN THE POWER COMES ON: EMMETT MCCARTY, ROSALIE HALE, JASPER WHITLOCK, AND ALICE BRANDON!"  
Ever since the man had said that, I had been trying to think of a way to get all of us out of here. I could feel all of my friends around me, and I could feel all my friends shaking around me. There was one thing that drove me to find a way to get out of here before the power comes on: Rosalie's constant crying. I HAD to get her out of here. She didn't deserve to go through something like this.  
Suddenly, the lights turned on, and I knew two things: My planning time was up, and I was due up at the stage. My feet felt as though they were glued to the floor. I felt a cold sweat form across my brow. I felt Rosalie try to go up to the front of the room, towards a man who was wearing a ski mask. My arms tightened around her; there was no way that I was going to let her go up to that creep.  
"Ummmm, as I remember, I told four people to make their way to the stage........oh well. I'll get you kids eventually." The man said, in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Dr. Carlisle Cullen.  
Just as I thought this, the lights dimmed, the music began playing again, and everyone began dancing again. As though nothing had happened. As though what had just occured was a usual thing. Without thinking I turned to a man and asked him if he had just seen what happened. He looked at me as though I was insane.  
I looked down at Rosalie and the look on her face told me she had just seen what I had seen. One look at Jasper and Alice told me that they had also seen the man. I nudged Rosalie forward, towards the back door, and she went willingly. Alice and Jasper followed us, and when people wouldn't move for Rosalie, I stepped forward. They seemed to move more willingly for a football player.  
When we finally made it to the car, we were all still in shock. No one made an attempt to talk on the ride to our houses, so we all just sat in a daze.  
As I got out of the car, I kissed Rose without really thinking, then jogged to my front door, looking forward to my nice, warm bed.

**Corin POV**

As I sat staring at Elsie, I watched her cheeks redden as she noticed I was staring at her. I couldn't deny the fact that I was glad that I could make her blush. Over the time that I had known her, I had realized that not many people could invoke a vulnerable reaction in her. She was very.....strong, independant, and influential. Elsie could make a whole room of people agree with her. She just had this......power over people that she enjoyed using for good. I smiled as I mentally praised Elsie, a small laugh escaping my lips.  
"What is it? Are you thinking about me?" As she said this, I realized that I had forgot to list the fact that she can read minds. Well, not really, but I felt like she could because she always seems to know whats on my mind.  
"I'm ALWAYS thinking about you." I said, planting a kiss on her forehead. I watched as a smile crossed her lips, and she reached up to touch my cheek, but she cried out as her shoulder protested to being used.  
I was instantly mad at myself. I always blamed myself when Elsie was in pain because I feel so helpless. My arms shot towards her, and I cradled her to my chest, trying to comfort Elsie without hurting her. She sighed, sounding a little fed up. I cocked my head to the side, wondering what her deal was. "I'm just sick of being so fragile. I want you to be able to hug and kiss me without being afraid of hurting me." I sighed with her, agreeing. "I want the same thing." I muttered unhappily. Suddenly, all I wanted to do was kiss Elsie. So I did. I tried to be gentle with her, but I'm sure I hurt her because I grabbed her torso roughly and kissed her roughly too. Elsie didn't seem to mind though because she molded her body to mine, and we must have kissed for at least a minute because when our lips parted we both gasped for air. I chuckled for no reason, and so did Elsie.  
Then the moment was killed just as it began to live because Laurel walked in and Elsie had to warn Edward and Bella that Bella's sort of stepmom was coming to check on them.  
Laurel tapped her foot and asked, "where are Bella and Edward?" She looked at each of us questioningly, as though trying to guilt the truth out of us. Without missing a beat Elsie said "bathroom" truthfully and Laurel nodded, believing her.  
Elsie had just texted Edward when he and Bella came into the room. Appearently they were already on their way back when Laurel came to the room. So I guess no warning was needed. Each of them wore a happy smile as they walked in, and Laurel looked at them questioningly, but didn't ask any questions. She just told Bella where she could find her, then left.  
We all began talking, and after a while, Elsie complained that she was very tired. I reached back and flicked off the light just as Edward and Bella were settling into a chair; Bella sitting down on Edward's lap.  
We all smiled contentedly as everyone settled in for some much needed sleep.

**Edward POV**

As I sat with the girl of my dreams on my lap, I sighed contentedly, happy to have Bella here with me. A small, annoying part of me, reminded me that I shouldn't get used to this. Just the thought of not having Bella with me when I went to sleep saddened me.  
I tried to turn my thoughts toward less painful things, and I ended up having a memory of Tanya slip into my thoughts. It was a memory from when we had first started dating and she had sat on my lap all the time. Ugh. Why couldn't I get rid of all my memories of her?  
In an attempt to rid myself of any "unsafe" memories, I tighten my arms around Bella and allow my head to be filled with all of the happy moments that we've had together. The first memory I focus on is the first one I have of her. Its when we first saw each other, at the Sea-Tac Airport. I remember how I thought that I'd never be able to get a girl as beautiful as her to like me. As that thought hits me, I smile at the fact that I got Bella to not only like me, but to be my girlfriend. The next memory that I focus on is our first kiss. Thats my favorite memory because it was the first time in years that I had kissed someone other than Tanya.  
Suddenly, Bella mutters my name, and I'm pulled away from my happy memories. So, she talks in her sleep? Just as I think that, she says, "I love you" and my heart nearly bursts. Although I know she can't hear me because shes sleeping I whisper the same thing in her ear. Bella smiles, and I smile with her, glad to have said the thing that had been eating at me for a while.  
"Edward, you're such a great pianist....." Bella mutters breathily, and I say thank you, feeling a little stupid for answering, but not really.  
This sleep talking goes on until Bella mutters another "I love you" to me, and I echo her, just as I fall into a peaceful slumber, with my love sitting on my lap........................


	7. Change

**Chapter 7: Change**

**Elsie POV**

I am woken when I feel a slight shake on my shoulder. I open my sleepy eyes to find Dr. Carlisle Cullen looking at me curiously. "You're not going to bed early enough. Tsk, tsk, Elsie." I rolled my eyes at him, thinking that I can go to sleep whenever I want.  
"So, doc, can I go home now?" I ask curiously, wanting to be at a familiar place.  
Carlisle thought about my request for a little bit, then said, "sure, go ahead. All you'll have to wear are the bandages and a sling. I'll go get those, and you can feel free to dress and gather your belongings. Just be careful with that arm." Carlisle left as soon as he finished speaking, and just before he left I realized that he had dark, bruiselike circles under his eyes. As though he had been up all night. I'm very paranoid at this point, so I feel like he wasn't up all night caring for patients, but he was doing something else. Something bad.  
I banish those thoughts from my head, I need to focus on the tasks at hand: waking up my three sleeping friends and getting ready to leave this hell of a place. "Guys, get up. I need help getting ready to leave." I say the words groggily, and I know that they can probably barely understand me, but they all open their eyes and stretch.  
Everyone takes on a job: Corin helps me out of bed, Bella gathers my few belongings, and Edward helps both of them. I can't help but notice the slight smile playing across Edward's lips. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that Bella slept on his lap last night. Bella is blushing furiously, but shes smiling.  
Just then Laurel walks in, and I decide to ask if Bella can come over to I and Edward's house. As soon as I do, her lips form a tight line, and I can tell that shes debating. "Laurel, I and Edward's dad will be home the whole day and night, and I know that you don't want her home alone, and I can't help but notice that you're clipboard says that you have signed up to stay at the hospital this whole week. I'm sure you'll be sleeping here, and I'm sure that Bella can't do that unless she's visiting a patient, and since I'm leaving, she can't sleep here. So, why don't you let her stay at my house all week. Our dad is off work all this week, and he'll be home all the time, so you can be sure that Bella won't do anything......unsavory." I make sure to keep my sentences slightly awkward sounding so that Laurel will think slightly harder, which will cause her to grow slightly confused. Then, she'll have to say yes because the only thing she'll really be thinking about is the fact that my dad will be at the house.  
"Fine, Bella, you can stay at the Masen's house. I'll call you when I can, but don't just sit around waiting for my call because I'm going to be very busy. Bye." With that, Laurel rushed out the door, leaving all of us to wonder why she took all this responsibility at the hospital. Suddenly, I realize that she must be trying to get away from all the terrible things that have been happening lately. I guess she's just trying to escape from the responsibility that has been placed on her; which is taking care of Bella. Laurel must be fairly young if shes having trouble dealing with parenthood. "Thanks, Elsie. Laurel doesn't need to have to worry about where to keep me all week." Bella says greatfully, and I shake my head as though to say that it wasn't a problem. I was used to doing things like that for my friends in Chicago, they were always asking me to lie for them. I sighed unhappily at all the lying I had done in Chicago, and how it had cost one thirteen year old girl her life. I banished the thought from my head, that incident was NOT my fault.  
Corin's concerned voice interrupted my unpleasant thoughts. "Elsie, if your in pain you can sit down." I shake my head and make my toward the bathroom, to change. Bella follows, knowing that I'll need help. She helps me change into a pair of black cigarette pants, a navy blue one shoulder top, and some black ballet flats. As I look into the mirror, I can't help but think that I look great, even though I have been shot.  
"Those pants are soooo cute!" Bella says, and I'm surprised that she complimented them because Bella's style is more comfortable, laid back. I suddenly think back to an extra pair that I have in my closet. Then I realize that this would be a perfect time for Bella to get a makeover (I had noticed her slightly drab woredrobe). "Bella, how about I, Alice, and Rosalie give you a make-over this week?" Bella looks at me uncertainly for a moment, and I can tell that make-overs aren't her forte.  
"O....k. Sure." I chuckle at her slightly scared face, then walk out of the bathroom, ready to go home.

**Rosalie POV**

The next morning I'm woken up by my phone ringing, and I never knew that I could be so annoyed by the song "Day n' Night" by Kid Cudi. Ugh. Who was calling me at....ELEVEN O'CLOCK? AHHHH! I HATE SLEEPING LATE!  
Suddenly, as I look at the caller I.D., I realize that waking up late is my last worry. Its Elsie. She's going to want to know what happened at the club. Should I tell her? Yes. "Hello, Elsie. I need to talk to you." I say, my voice shaking.  
"Okay. Thats kinda why I called you. I'm at home now, so......come over. See you in a minute." Ugh. Elsie. Always the dictator. Always telling everyone what to do. When I don't say anything I hear Elsie mutter "goodbye" and hang up. Just as I'm about to follow her command, I realize that I'm still wearing my sparkly Chanel dress from last night. Ugh. I usually enjoy changing clothes, but the weight of what happened last night drags me down. So, I sluggishly dress in some skinny Seven For All Mankind jeans, a black and white striped Chanel t-shirt, and a pair of black Ugg boots.  
Grabbing my cellphone, I head out my bedroom and run at top speed to Elsie's house. As soon as I cross the street, I see Elsie, Edward, Corin, and Bella waiting for me outside. They all look anxious, especially Elsie, who looks like a fierce leader even when she has a bunch of bandages piled onto her shoulder.  
"Whats wrong, Rosalie, you sounded really.....odd on the phone." Elsie's voice is careful, as though she thinks that one word might break me. I must look really bad. Really fragile'  
As I try to work out what to say, a black Town Car rolls into the Masen's driveway, and out steps Jasper, Alice, and Emmett, all of which look VERY bedraggled. "Hey guys," Jasper mutters, his voice just high enough for us to hear him. We all mutter "hey," and then everyone heads into the Masen's living room. Elsie's Dad is sitting in the front room, so we all put on smiles and some of us even laugh, as though this whole situation is hilarious. I realize that we all seem to be EXTREMELY good at doing this group lying thing. As soon as we're out of the room, the facade disappears. We suddenly become a group of insanely scared teenagers. "Guys, what the hell happened to you last night?" Elsie asks the burning question, the question everyone wants answered, but no one speaks. The huge dining room that we've just entered has gone deathly silent, and instead of speaking, we all sit down. Its kinda like our group has become divided. On one side of the table, there are Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and I. The kids who know what happened. On the other side of the table are Edward, Bella, Elsie, and Corin. The kids who are VERY confused. Emmett finally breaks the silence. "Okay. Sitting here is NOT going to solve our problems. We need to tell you what happened. So, I guess if no one else will, I will." So he does.  
Emmett tells everyone everything. He tells about how the man asked us to come up. Emmett tells about the mans voice. How it sounded a little like Carlisle Cullen. How, when we didn't come, he just left. How no one at the club remembered what had happened but us. "I personally think that this guy didn't expect us to come up to the stage. He just pulled this stunt to scare us. To let us know that he knows who we are. To let us know that we are being watched." As Emmett tells us that, we all freeze. He has to be right. That man couldn't possibly have expected us to go up to that stage. He must've been trying a scare tactic.  
Elsie is the first to break that silence. "I agree with Emmett. This guy was just trying to scare us. He knew that you would all tell us about this, and he knew that it would scare everyone because, who wouldn't be frightened by this?" We all sat and digested our friends words. Then, suddenly, something hit me. "Guys! What if this guy only wants all of us. Kind of like an all or nothing type o f deal. Maybe, if we all stop associating with each other, we'll be okay." Everyone looked at me like I was some sort of idiot. Which, I probably am because I could see that no one liked that idea. Especially now Edward and Bella, who were both holding hands tightly on top of the table.  
"No way. I'm not staying away from Bella just because some guy is trying to scare all of us, for whatever reason. I won't let him rule my life that way." Edward's voice was livid, and I could see that his little speech had persuaded everyone to not let this guy make their decisions for them. Edward could persuade all of them as much as he wanted, but I wasn't going to go with his plan, which probably consisted of staying huddled in a corner with Bella, and waiting for this lunatic to come kill him. Idiot. "You all can do whatever you want, but I'm not gonna hang around and wait for this guy to kill me. I'm leaving, and I would like it VERY much if none of you followed me, or tried to contact me. Bye." As I rose from the table, Emmett grabbed my hand and looked up at me fiercely.  
"Don't. Go. Anywhere." I responded to Emmett's comment by yanking my hand out of his, and walking out of the room, ignoring his pleading calls to me. I walked away thinking that I had just made a VERY good decision. I couldn't have been more wrong.

**Narrator POV**

Ugh, I hate when petty arguments get in the way of my plans. Oops, I meant Dr. Carlisle's plan.....

**Emmett POV**

As Rosalie walked away, I felt as though this had happened before. As though she had walked away from all of us once before. A pain pierced my chest, a pain that felt as though it was all concentrated on my heart. I had had pain like this once before: when my Dad had died. Even with all this pain, I couldn't bear to call her name more than a few times. I sunk back down into my chair, not looking at anyone, although I know that their looking at me. "Well.......I don't know if we'll ever get Rosalie back. For now, we need to let her have some space, and I think-"  
"Elsie, for once could you just shut the hell up?" I said, my voice livid with anger. Elsie sat back in her chair and stared at me intently, as though she was waiting for me to yell again. She looked unfazed by my outburst.  
Corin tried to yell at me, but Elsie put her hand over his mouth. "Emmett. First of all, don't talk to me like that. If you want me to shut up, leave. Second of all, don't interrupt me. I was going to say that if we let Rosalie have some space, she might rethink her decision. But for now, we need to keep our distance from her. We also need to keep our eyes on her because she's still in danger. I don't believe a word of what she says. This guy must just want as many of us as possible, but I don't think that he'd mind if he only got a couple of us. So, the only REAL question here is this: why does he want us?" I sighed and stayed where I was seated, not wanting to leave the safety of my friends.

It's been a few days since we've seen Rosalie. Its Monday, and that means that its time for my meeting with Dr. Carlisle. Well, its not just my meeting, my friends have to come to.  
I was busy getting ready. My Mom was insisting that I get a little dressed up, since all my friends seem to be rich. My Mother, being the slightly caddy person that she is, has begun to notice the cars that my friends are picking me up in. So, she's begun to ask questions about all of them, and that led to her figuring out that they all live in mansions. Well, save for Bella. Anyway, all that has caused my Mom to begin buying me fancier clothes to wear out in public. Brands like American Eagle Outfitters and Hollister have begun to mysteriously pop up in my closet. Although my Mother thinks that these are EXTREMELY expensive brands, I'm pretty sure I've never seen one rich person wear these clothes, only Elsie, and only because she was in both of their ad campaigns.  
As I'm sitting in my bedroom, sorting through clothes, my sister, Miranda, walks in and says, "Emmie, you've been acting REALLY weird lately. Why?" Ugh. Why does she have to notice EVERYTHING? "I haven't been acting weird lately." I say, annoyed by her question. Miranda just nods, and I can tell that she knows I'm lying.  
"I can help you pick clothes!" She says eagerly, and her little face is so cute that I have to say yes. I'm glad I did, because Miranda ends up picking better clothes than I could've. She picks a red and navy blue plaid button-up Hollister shirt, and a pair of ripped American Eagle Outfitters jeans.  
"Thanks, Miranda." I give the little munchkin a hug as I head out the door, where Jasper's Town Car is waiting for me. I slide into the back of the car, waving at my Mother and sister as we leave.  
"So, man, you ready to go to hell?" Jasper asked with a smirk. I smirk right back at him, shaking my head. As I look over at Jasper, I can see that he didn't bother to dress up. He's wearing a white hoodie, gray sweatpants, and a pair of orange Nike's.  
I can see Jasper is looking over my choice of dress, and his smirk fades. "Come on, dude, you can't tell me that you picked those clothes out voluntarily. Why didn't you just come in your pajama's, like me?"  
I have to laugh at that. "Jasper, why would I want to be like you?" That earns me a shove, and I shove right on back. We both burst into laughter as I see that I've pushed Jazz a little too hard.  
"Not cool, man. But I see your point. NO ONE, wants to be even remotely like me." I chuckle half-heartedly, realizing that we're awfully close to the hospital.  
As we pull into the hospital parking lot, Jasper's driver informs us that he will be in the cafeteria waiting for us. Jasper mutters "thanks" to the man, then steps out of the car. We immediately notice our large group of friends and head over to them. I immediately notice that Rosalie isn't anywhere to be seen.  
I walk straight up to Elsie and ask if she saw Rosalie leave for the hospital. Elsie just shakes her head sadly, shoving her thin hands into the pockets of her trench coat. I can tell that she's losing hope that Rosalie will come back each day. Suddenly, looking at Elsie's sad face, I feel sorry for her. After all, Rosalie was her best friend, or at least she seemed to be. I patted her shoulder, not knowing what else to do to comfort her. Elsie looks up at me and smiles, her face solemn.  
Then she resumes the position of fearless leader. "So, everyone, we all remember how we're not going to mention the club because we're not really sure if that man was Carlisle, and we're not really sure if it would be, well, okay to tell him something like that. Now, lets get this shit over with." Wow, stick figure must be mad, she never cusses.  
"Hey, guys, how about we blow this joint and head over to the Starbucks for some coffee and a better set of people?" I ask, trying to get everyone at least semi-happy. Even I knew that that was an insanely terrible try at comedy. Appearently, so did everyone else, because I didn't even get a polite chuckle. I was surprised that not even Bella laughed, because usually she was nice enough to give even my worst jokes a laugh. Oh well. "Where is this thing at?" I heard Corin ask in an annoyed voice. No one bothered to answer him because just as he asked that, we saw Dr. Carlisle and his wife, Dr. Esme.  
What immediately struck me was that Dr. Carlisle looked really weird after he had seen who was here, and who wasn't. His first question wasn't "how are you doing," it was, "where is Rosalie?"  
Stick figure was quick to answer (of course), "well, Dr. Carlisle, Rosalie has had a strong disagreement with all of us, and I think that its safe to assume that Rosalie won't be attending any more of these meetings." Dr. Carlisle's face was suddenly very angry.  
"I don't think that we should continue these sessions until you all can resolve your little argument with Rosalie." WHAT?! "Sir, with all due respect, I really don't think that our argument with Rosalie is any of your business." As Elsie said that, Dr. Carlisle let out an annoyed breath, and left. I CAN'T BELIEVE HE JUST LEFT!  
"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO TELL US THAT!" I shouted at both the doctors backs. Neither of them turned. -  
When we got to the Masen's house, I was so pissed I couldn't see straight. I was mad because these stupid doctors wouldn't see any of us just because one of us didn't want to come. And that made me think about that certain someone who wouldn't talk to any of us: Rosalie.  
Just as I was thinking about her, the doorbell rang, and I couldn't help but run to get it. As I opened it, I found Rosalie was waiting outside. But she wasn't smiling or anything; she looked scared. "EMMETT.....THEY.....HE...........I DON'T KNOW.....WHY........HE JUST WALKED IN......" Rosalie was mumbling like a crazy person, so instead of listening to her, I grabbed her and pulled her into the house. As soon as she was inside I grabbed her and held her to my chest, but even though she was here, and she was safe, I was still worried about her.  
Finally, Rosalie got ahold of herself. "There was a man in a black mask, and he ran into my bedroom. I screamed, and he ran back out. Thats all that happened. I ran over here because I was afraid he was going to hurt you guys."

**Alice POV**

When Rosalie had knocked on the door, I had been locked in an amazing vision. It was the first new vision I had had since seeing Edward and Bella's death.  
In it, I and all seven of my friends were in New York City, and we were at a huge house party. We were a few years older than we were now, and we were having fun! It was great!  
Then Rosalie had told us what had just happened to her, and all the great feelings had seeped out of me. Suddenly, Jasper told everyone he thought that I had just had a vision, and everyone looked at me expectantly.  
"I...I think that it takes place years from now. Its all of us at a house party, in what looks to be New York City. It seems like this vision disproves the previous one about Edward and Bella, because both of them are at the party." I said uncertainly.  
Edward looked slightly relieved, but suddenly his expression changed to skeptical. "Alice, what do you think happened to change the future?"  
I sighed, annoyed, knowing that I couldn't answer his question made me angry. "I don't know, Edward."  
Elsie looked at me seriously, then asked, "do you think that someone with a similar power could...change your visions? Like...manipulate them?"  
Everyone stopped talking for a minute, thinking about what Elsie had just said. Then, I piped up, needing to say something to make everyone talk. "If what you say is true, then there are much worse things going on here than just a guy that has it out for us, which is bad enough." -  
WINTER -  
(Still Alice POV)  
It's been several months since Elsie posed the question that maybe there is someone out there who can manipulate my visions. There's only been one major happening since then: Charlie was killed in prison.  
He was killed around Thanksgiving, and that was the best Thanksgiving ever, for Bella and Edward. When I got that news, I was eating with my family at the table. I found out via a text from Elsie. I had smiled so big that my mother had begun questioning why I was so happy. So had Jasper and his Aunt, who were dining with us because they had no one else to spend Thanksgiving with. I just said that I was happy to have everyone safe and together.  
Another, less major thing that's happened is that Rosalie came back to hang out with us after that guy broke into her house. Even though Rosalie came back to our group and was willing to go to therapy, we haven't gone to the hospital since the day that Emmett yelled at Dr. Carlisle and Dr. Esme. We also haven't heard from the doctors. I can't say that I'm not happy about all that.  
Anyway, we've all been pretty happy since all that has happened. Now its Christmas Eve, and its around seven at night. I and my family are on our way to the Masen's house for a big Christmas Eve dinner. They insisted that we come because they wanted to host a big party like they used to in Chicago. Just as I was thinking about all these things, we pulled into the Masen's driveway. I let myself focus on the present as I saw Jasper step out of his black Town Car with his Aunt. He was looking handsome in a red sweater that clung to the musles he had gotten during football season. I looked down at my own outfit, which was concealed by a red, thick wool coat that went down to my knees. Underneath it was a black wrap dress that fit me perfectly. Only the coat was mine, Elsie had insisted that I take this dress from her because she thought it would look good on me. She was right, as usual.  
I'm pulled out of my thoughts by Jasper. He's got his arm around me, and he's leading me into the Masen's massive home. As we make it inside, he pulls my coat off me. "Oh, what a gentleman." I say teasingly. Jasper just smiles at me and rolls his eyes.  
I look around for the rest of our friends, and see that everyone is congregated in the front room. The scene in front of me looks like its from a painting: Edward and Bella are sitting on the loveseat together, huge smiles on their faces. He has his arm around Bella's shoulders in a protective way, as he always does. Then Rosalie and Emmett are sitting together on the huge couch, holding hands. Emmett's laughing, as he always is. Elsie and Corin are sitting next to them, holding hands as well. I and Jasper make our way to the beautiful scene, smiling hugely.

**Bella POV**

I couldn't be any more happy than I am right now. If I could be any more happy, I would be. I'm so glad that all those terrible things seem to be behind all of us.  
"Hi everyone!" I hear Alice say as she and Jasper walk in. Ah, Alice, always so happy to see all of us. We all say hello to both of them just as happily as Alice said it to us, because everyone is insanely happy about how these past few months have gone.  
Edward's Mother walks in, and its obvious she wants something because shes smiling at him pleadingly. "Edward, could you please play us some beautiful music?" Edward nods, smiling.  
Instead of leaving me sitting alone, he tugs at my hand. I walk over to the piano with him, always happy to sit next to him when he plays the piano. "What do you want to here?" He whispers to me, a smile on his lips. He knows exactly what I want to here, because I always request it: my lullaby.  
"My lullaby," I whisper back to him with a smile. Edward begins to play immediatly. I can hear everyone sigh as they hear his amazing piano playing. A few of the adults haven't heard him play, and I can practically hear their mouths drop.  
I lean onto Edwards shoulder as he plays, like I always do. I've heard him play A LOT, but it never gets old. Everytime I come over, he plays for me as I walk through the door.  
When the song ends I sigh, always sad when he's done playing. I hear Emmett say, "okay, lovebirds, time for dinner." That gets a few chuckles from the parents, and Edward and I laugh with them.  
As we walk into the Masen's immaculate dining room, I choose a seat next to Edward, of course, and Laurel, who I am now proud to call my official mother. She smiles at both of us, and I can see the haapiness in her eyes. Laurel is always telling me how glad she is that I've found a guy who's the total opposite of Charlie, and thats why shes happy at the moment. I know that because she only ever smiles an eye crinkling smile when she sees me with Edward.  
Everyone makes polite conversation as the food is brought out. I can't believe how much work Edward's parents have put into this dinner! "Edward, how long did it take for your parents to get this put together?"  
Edward laughed at my incredulous tone, and then says, "not very long. My parents have been hosting these Christmas parties since they were first married. The only reason that I know that is because Mom and Dad have always boasted about how big this tradition is, and how long its been going on . I remember when Elsie and I were five years old, and we snuck into the big dining room so we could steal food from the adults table because we were sick of just getting to eat mashed potatoes and turkey, while the adults got to eat a nine course meal." I laughed at Edward's funny childhood memory. He and Elsie had told me MANY stories from their childhood. They were TERRIBLE children!  
So, we all sat and ate, talked, and laughed. It was the perfect Christmas scene. I couldn't help but feel slightly weird to be in such a beautiful and rich place. My Mom had never brought me to such a pretty place, and she had never known anyone who had such an amazing house.  
Thinking about Renee made me sad, and I was surprised to find that I wanted to cry. I let my face fall forward a bit so that no one would see that my eyes were wetter than usual. I should've known that Edward would notice. I could feel him lean his head down next to mine, and he whispered, "what's wrong?" Edward's voice was afraid, as though he thought that I was dead.  
"Where's your bathroom?" I asked, my voice shaking. Edward pointed me toward a hallway at the far end of the dining room. There was a door at the end of hallway, and I assumed that was the bathroom. I excused myself from the table and flew down the hallway and shoved the door open. Once I was in the bathroom, I began crying. I didn't know why the simple fact that Renee was dead made me cry. I had cried so much when I found out she was dead, so I had no idea why I was suddenly overcome with emotion. I guess I'm sad because I just realized that I'll never get another Christmas with Renee. I'll never get to see her open the little present that I get her every year. I'll never get to go with her to a diner for Christmas dinner.  
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "Bella, are you okay? It's me, Edward." Oh, no! He can't see me like this!  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Even I don't believe that, because my voice is shaking. "Can I come in?" Edward asks, and I finally say that he can. As Edward walks in, he shuts the door behind him, and I can see that he looks concerned.  
"Bella, whats wrong? Did you see something through the window?" I shake my head, not wanting to tell him why I'm crying, because its a little dumb of me to cry so long after Renee's death.  
"No, I didn't see anything. I just.....its stupid. The reason why I'm crying is massively stupid." After I stop talking I choke back tears, and I feel Edward's hands cradle my face.  
"I'm sure its not stupid. You never cry for no reason." I sighed, and didn't answer him for a minute or so.  
"Its just, I was thinking about Renee, and I hate that she's dead. I've cried for her several times before, but I guess I didn't get all my emotion out the first few times." After I'm done talking, Edward pulls me into his arms, and I'm glad to be comforted. I've never cried for Renee in front of anyone, so it's odd for me to have someone here to help me through grieving. After a while Edward asks me if I want to go back to the party. "Yes. And, Edward........thank you......for everything." He just smiles and kisses me on the forehead as we walk back into the dining room.

**Jasper POV**

By the time the Masen's party ends, I'm ready to go. The only reason I came to this party was because all my friends were coming, and I like to hang out with them as much as possible because, well, Alice is ALWAYS with them all.  
Just as I'm thinking about Alice, she walks up to me and hugs me. In that moment, I'm as happy as I can be because I love it when she hugs me for no reason. Then I realize that she must be saying good-bye, and I'm a little sad. "See you later, Alice." She says a timid "goodbye," and I'm left standing in the Masen's driveway, alone.  
Suddenly, my Aunt comes up to me and says that its time to go. I follow her to our Town Car, and slide into the warm car.  
"That was a fun party, wasn't it?" Aunt Mildred asks, her old voice quiet and tired sounding.  
I sighed, annoyed. I didn't really feel like talking, but I guess I have to. "Yeah, it was great." After my short answer, Aunt Mildred stops talking. We sit in silence for a while, then I feel my iPhone vibrate in my pocket. Its a text message from Alice!  
Alice: So, did u have fun, Jazz?  
Jasper: Yeah, the party was ok. Seeing u was the best part.  
Alice: Awww, ur so sweet!  
Jasper: I try.  
Alice: LOL, G2G, finally home! C u 2morrow, Rosalie's house.  
Jasper: Bye.  
I wondered, for a moment, what Alice was talking about when she said that she'd see me at Rosalie's house. Then I remembered that the Hale's were having a gift exchange at their house tomorrow morning. I'm just glad that I get to see Alice and my friends. As soon as I think about Alice, I remember that I got her name for the gift exchange. I had gotten her this dress that Elsie had told me she had seen Alice admiring at the mall. When Alice loved her present tomorrow I'd have to thank Elsie for the gift advice!  
As soon as the car pulled into my Aunts driveway, I jumped out and walked straight into her musty old mansion. I hated that I had to live in this decrepit old place, but I dealt with it because I didn't really want to go back to Georgia with my parents. Going back there would mean that I'd have to leave all my friends, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.  
I didn't bother saying goodnight to my Aunt, I just made my way up the old spiral staircase, to my bedroom. I ran straight down the hallway, until I reached my door, at the end of the hall. I was glad to have so much space between myself and Aunt Mildred.  
As soon as I was in my pajama's, I decided to call Emmett, because I was having one of those nights where I was way too awake to sleep.  
"Hello." Emmett said, sounding just as awake as I am.  
"Hey, man, whats up?" I asked, not entirely sure what to talk about.  
"Nothing much, I just can't really sleep. I was just talking to Edward on the phone, he said that he can't sleep either." Emmett said.  
"I bet I know why he can't sleep....he's probably got Bella with him." I said, laughing at my own joke.  
Emmett laughed along with me, then said, "I don't think so, man, Edward doesn't seem like a slutty dude to me."  
"How would you know........?" I asked, a little disturbed.  
"Shut the hell up, Jazz, you know I'm not that way." I was laughing so hard that I didn't notice the man in the all black outfit slip into my room. I didn't notice him until I felt him hit me in the back of the head. The last thing I heard was Emmett asking me if I was okay.

**Corin POV**

I was woken up at about one A.M. by my cellphone ringing. One look at the caller I.D. told me it was Elsie, and I knew she wouldn't call me this late unless something was wrong. I answered immediately.  
"Elsie, what's wrong?" I asked hurriedly.  
"Corin, Jasper's been kidnapped! Rosalie just called me and told me that Emmett told her that he was talking to Jasper on the phone when suddnely there was a crash and Jasper stopped talking. Emmett called the police right after he hung up on Jasper. We haven't heard anything else." After Elsie stopped talking, I heard a crash in the backround, then I heard Edward say this: Bella's been taken. Oh my God! Not another person!  
"Corin, I'm sure you heard that......can you believe it?" Elsie asked, her voice shaking. I had never heard her sound so.....scared.  
"Corin, listen to me, you NEED to protect yourself! Go over to someone's house, I don't care, just stay around people! Bella and Jasper were both taken when they were alone. I heard that Bella was in her room one minute, gone the next. Same for Jasper. Take care of yourself. I have to go and see if Edward is okay, or at least if he's still alive. I.....love you." At that moment, even with all the shit that was happening, all I could think was this: Elsie loves me!  
"I....love you, too." I said timidly. Then I heard her hang up, and I immediately got to work following her orders. My parents were still awake; they were getting presents ready for Mica, my sister, and I. I ran downstairs, trying not to let myself get too scared. I wasn't even scared for myself, I was worried abouhert Elsie. Edward couldn't be much help to her at the moment, since he was so worried about Bella. "Corin, what are you doing up?" My Mom asked as I reached the room where we kept the Christmas tree.  
"I just thought that you guys should know that my friends, Jasper and Bella, have gone missing. They were kidnapped right after they got home from the party." I was surprised at how much my voice shook; I was more shook up about this than I had thought I was.  
My Mom rushed over and hugged me close, muttering how sorry she was. My Dad looked dumbfounded, like he couldn't process everything that I had just said. I could barely process anything at the moment.  
I stayed up with my parents as long as I could bear. I was insanely tired from being woken up so late. I stumbled upstairs and fell on my bed, slipping into a troubled sleep.

**Edward POV**

It was the morning after Bella had been kidnapped. Christmas. This was the absolute worst Christmas I had ever had. I wished that I could just die. But I know that I have to live, just in case Bella turns up alive.  
For me, the craziest part was knowing that I had just been able to hold Bella, talk to her, kiss her, and now she was gone. Just like that. Poof. Gone.  
"Edward, everyone's going to head over to Rosalie's house in an hour. We're all gonna try to salvage Christmas. As if we could salvage this mess." I can't believe that even Elsie, the one person who doesn't know when to give up, is giving up.  
Suddenly, I got angry. I shot out of my chair! "Elsie, we CANNOT give up! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!"  
Elsie got up to, and said, "you know what, your right!! WE WILL NOT GIVE UP!" Elsie said that like it was our montra for the day. Like it could save Bella and Jasper.  
I ran upstairs, each stepped filled with hope, and got ready for the party at Rosalie's house. I was kind of dreading it, but I guess that's all I could do while a waited for word about Bella and Jasper.  
Suddenly, my cellphone rang. I answered it without looking at the caller I.D., so I wasn't sure who was calling, but I thought for sure that whoever it was, was calling about Bella. I was right, but later I would wish I wasn't.  
"Hi, this is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. If you want to see Bella again, you best follow the directions I give you."


End file.
